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SAMSOK 

RAPHAEL 

HIHSCH 

TRANSLATED   BY 
F^V-DI^BEHNAf^  Dl^ACHMAN 


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BM  560  .H4813  1899 

Hirsch,  Samson  Raphael,  180^ 

-1888.  .  „^_ 

The  nineteen  letters  of  Ben 


Zhc  Bineteen  Xetters 


OF 


Ben  msicl 


Being  a    Spiritual    Presentation    of  the  Prin- 
ciples   of  Judaism 


BY 

Samson  IRapbaef  IT^trscb 

Laie  Rabbi  of  the  Israelitische  Religionsgesellschaft 
of  Frankfort-on-the-Main 


TRANSLATED    BY 

BernarD'  Bracbman,  iPb.D. 

Rabbi  of  the  Congregation  Zichron  Ephraim  and  Dean 
of  the  fewish  Theological  Seminary,  New  York 


TOGETHER    WITH    A    PREFACE    AND    A    BIOGRAPHICAL 
SKETCH  OF  THE  AUTHOR  BY  THE  TRANSLATOR 


ffun?^  8.  Ma^nalls  Company 

NEW    YORK    AND    LONDON 
1899 


Copyright,  1899,  by 

FUNK  &  WAGNAI,I,S  COMPANY 

[Registered  at  vStationers'  Hall,  England] 

PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


tikis'?  i<hi  Ti'trjr  nin^S  xStr  yisb  pnn  'i'?:? 
Sxnc'n  npSn?3  nni  nSb^  in'ssS  x'^k  k^k  nn 

' '  Be/ore  Thee  it  is  revealed  and  known  that  not  for 
my  glory  or  the  glory  of  my  father' s  house  have  I  done 
this,  but  for  Thy  glory  that  discord  m,ay  not  increase 
in  Is7'ael.'' — Megillah,  p.  j. 


SAMSON    RAPHAEI.   HIRSCH 

I.ate  Rabbi  of  the  Lsraelitische  Religionsgesellschaft  (Israelitish 

Society  for  Religion)  of  Frankfort-on-the-Main,  Germany 


To  the 
Ever   Cherished  Memory  of 

My  Mother 

This  Book  is  Dedicated  in  Filial 
Love  and  Devotion 

The  Translator 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Translator's   Preface, v 

Samson    Raphael    Hirsch.  —  A    Biographical 

Sketch, ,     .        ix 

Author's  Preface, xxxv 

First  Letter. 
Complaint, I 

Second  Letter. 
Standpoint,   Method, 9 

Third  Letter. 
God,  The  World, 17 

Fourth  Letter. 
Man, 31 

Fifth  Letter. 
Education, 42 

Sixth  Letter. 
History, 53 

Seventh  Letter. 
Skib^S  The  Consecrated  People, 66 

Eighth  Letter. 
pxn,  12na,  nnsa,  mnx,   The    Patriarchs,   Egypt, 

the  Wilderness,  the  Land, 71 

iii 


IV  CONTENTS. 

Ninth  Letter. 

PAGE 

mSj,  Israel  in    Exile, 79 

Tenth  Letter. 
Division  of  the  Commandments  (nna),     ...       98 

Eleventh  Letter. 
D'pn,  n'QSK>r3,  nmn,  Laws,  Judgments,  Statutes,        107 

Twelfth  Letter. 
mSD,  Commandments, 113 

Thirteenth  Letter. 
nnj?,  Word  and  Deed  Symbols, 118 

Fourteenth  Letter. 
muy,  The  Service  of  God 127 

Fifteenth  Letter. 
Answer, 135 

Sixteenth  Letter. 
Emancipation 159 

Seventeenth  Letter. 
Reform, 169 

Eighteenth  Letter. 
Reform,  continued, 178 

Nineteenth  Letter. 
Outlines  of   Purpose  (Essays),      ......     210 


TRANSLATOR'S  PREFACE. 

In  giving  to  the  English-reading  Jewish 
public  this  English  version  of  the  maiden  effort 
of  the  late  great  Frankfort  Rabbi,  Samson  Ra- 
phael Hirsch,  the  * '  Nineteen  I^etters  of  Ben 
Uziel, ' '  I  am  strongly  conscious  that  I  have  per- 
formed a  dif&cult  task  very  imperfecftly.  The 
work,  though  limited  in  extent,  and  sketchy 
in  proportions,  is  of  great  importance,  both  as 
legards  its,  own  intrinsic  value,  and  its  effecft 
upon  the  history  of  Judaism.  It  was  epoch- 
making  in  its  time,  powerfully  influencing 
contemporary  Jewish  thought,  and  paving  the 
way  for  the  development  of  a  mighty  and  im- 
posing school  in  German  Judaism;  but  its 
merits  are  not  shown  in  their  just  light  by  a 
mere  translation.  To  properly  elucidate  the 
remarkable  and  original  concept  of  Judaism 
which  Samson  Raphael  Hirsch  employed  for 
the  rebuilding  of  the  ancient  faith  upon  modern 
lines,  in  noble  spiritual  harmony  with  its  tra- 
ditional foundations,  would  require  an  elabo- 


VI  I.KTTERS   OP   BKN  UZIKIy. 

rate  and  detailed  commentary  or  treatise,  an 
effort  for  which  the  translator  does  not,  at  this 
time,  feel  prepared,  and  yet  without  which  the 
work  is  necessarily  incomplete.     The  difficul- 
ties,  too,   of  the  mere  translation  have  been 
very  great.     The   author's  German   style   is 
terse,  energetic,  and  laden  with  thought,  but 
it  is  a  di(5lion  all  of  his  own,  complicated,  and 
involved  in  parts,  condensed  to  the  extreme  of 
brevity  in  other  parts,  and  full  of  special  terms 
and  peculiar  writings  derived  from  the  author's 
particular  conceptions  in  regard  to  Jewish  relig- 
ious notions,   or  Hebrew  philology.      It  can 
easily  be  seen  that  to  render  such  a  style  into 
clear,  intelligible,  and  idiomatic  English,  and 
yet  to  preserve,  in  some  measure,  the  striking 
charaaeristics  of  the  original,  was  a  task  of  im- 
mense difficulty.     I  have  endeavored  to  per- 
form this  task  to  the  best  of  my  ability.     I 
have  aimed  to  produce  a  version  which  should 
refledl,   however  faintly,   the   beauties  of  the 
original — its  solemn  earnestness  and  fiery  elo- 
quence, its  thought-profundity  and  rugged  di- 
re(5lness,  and  yet  should  not  be  too  alien  in  form, 


translator's  prkfack.  vii 

nor  too  far  removed  from  the  customary  speech 
and  di(5lion  of  KngHsh  literary  style.  In  this 
effort  I  have  sometimes  reproduced  with  literal 
exacftness  terms  and  expressions  used  by  the 
author,  and  have  again  ventured  to  deviate 
widely  from  the  original  text.  Such  terms  as 
"The  All-One,"  ''  Man-Israel,"  and  ''Deed- 
Symbol,"  I  have  rendered  literally,  because, 
although  unfamiliar  to  English  readers,  they 
are  essential  concepts  in  the  theologico-philo- 
sophical  system  of  our  author;  on  the  other 
hand,  I  have'disregarded  his  peculiar  writing  of 
Hebrew  words  —  ' '  Yissroel, "  "  Mitzwauss, ' ' 
"Kdauss,"  "Yaakauw,"  and  his  use  of  the 
colloquialism  ' '  Haschem  "  for  "  the  Lord, ' ' 
''  T'nach  "  for  ''  the  Bible,"  and  have  substi- 
tuted in  their  stead  the  forms  familiar  to  us; 
for  while  Hirsch  had  good  reasons,  in  his 
time,  for  introducing  these  peculiar  forms, 
to  use  them  in  a  modern  English  work  would 
simply  be  to  introduce  an  entirely  unnecessary 
element  of  uncouthness  and  bisarrerie.  I  have 
also  taken  the  liberty  to  add  words  and  phrases, 
and  to  divide  involved  and  complicated  sen- 


Vlll  I.KTTBRS   OF   BKN  UZIKI.. 

tences  whenever  I  thought  such  adlion  neces- 
sary to  add  to  the  perspicuity  and  intelligibil- 
ity of  the  rendering. 

I  now  commend  my  work,  which,  imperfec5l 
though  I  feel  that  it  is,  has,  nevertheless,  oc- 
cupied most  of  my  leisure  hours  during  the  past 
three  years,  to  the  judgment  of  the  English- 
reading  public  interested  in  the  thinkers  of 
Israel,  and  the  thoughts  they  think.  If  this 
version  succeeds  in  drawing  the  attention  of 
some  to  the  life-work  of  one  of  the  noblest 
laborers  in  the  vineyard  of  Israel,  ' '  Dreamers 
of  the  Ghetto,"  called  by  shallow,  carping 
lips;  if  it  cause  them  to  ponder  a  little  upon 
the  meaning  of  Judaism  and  its  message  to  the 
world,  my  reward  will  be  as  great  as  I  have 
dared  to  hope. 

Bernard   Drachman. 
New  York,  Elul,  S^S^- 
September,  i8p8. 


SAMSON    RAPHAEL    HIRSCH. 

A   BIOGRAPHICAIv  SKETCH. 

Samson  Raphael  Hirsch  was,  indeed,  a 
"prince  and  a  great  man  "  in  Israel;  a  rare 
and  noble  figure  in  the  Judaism  of  the  century 
now  so  rapidly  nearing  its  end.  Our  age,  so 
barren  of  men  of  original  and  profound  philo- 
sophic and  religious  concepts,  of  deep  convic- 
tions and  burning  enthusiasm;  so  over- fruitful 
of  weak  and  inane  sciolists,  who,  parrot-like, 
repeat  the  semi  -  comprehended  phrases  of 
pseudo-religious  materialism,  because  through 
them  lies  the  road  to  place  and  pelf,  and  the 
approval  of  the  rich  and  worldly;  our  age, 
that  could  so  ill  afford  it,  lost  in  him  one  who 
almost  alone  towered  above  the  dead  level  of 
indifference  and  mediocrity,  and  waved  on 
high  the  banner  of  Jewish  science,  Jewish 
loyalty,  and  Jewish  idealism.  Ten  years  have 
rolled  into  the  abyss  of  the  past  since  he  took 
leave  of  earth;  but  to  those  who  enjoyed  the 


X  I.ETTBRS  OF  BEN  UZIEL. 

inestimable  privilege  of  knowing  him,  or  of 
entering  into  spiritual  or  intelle(5lual  commu- 
nion with  him,  his  loss  is  as  fresh,  and  the  pain 
as  keen,  as  though  but  yesterday  had  witnessed 
his  demise,  for  the  impression  which  he  pro- 
duced upon  his  vast  circle  of  congregants  and 
admirers  was  so  profound,  and  the  sentiments 
of  admiration  and  esteem  which  he  aroused 
were  so  sincere  and  ardent,  that  death  alone 
could  suffice  to  obliterate  them.  Samson 
Raphael  Hirsch  had  also  many  opponents 
during  his  lifetime,  and  the  aims  and  objedts 
for  which  he  toiled  and  fought  with  all  the 
power  of  his  restless  brain  and  his  fiery 
tongue,  were,  and  still  are,  subjec5led  to  severe 
criticism;  but  in  one  point  all,  enemies  and 
friends,  agree,  that  his  life  was  altogether 
great,  that  his  view  of  Judaism  was  sublime 
in  its  intelledlual  grandeur  and  ethical  purity, 
and  that  the  manner  in  which  he  sought  to 
realize  it  was  altogether  admirable,  and 
adapted  to  confer  glory  and  honor  upon 
Israel  in  the  eyes  of  the  world.  Nor  did  he 
live  in  vain  or  toil  for  naught.     His  life  bears 


SAMSON   RAPHAEL   HIRSCH.  XI 

the  charadleristic  indication  of  the  truly  great, 
that  it  has  been  fertile  in  enduring  results;  he 
was  not,  like  many  so-called  leaders,  merely 
an  eminent  representative  of  principles,  not 
adlually  upheld  by  those  theoretically  his  ad- 
herents, a  general  without  an  army;  on  the 
contrary,  he  possessed  the  faculty  of  thor- 
oughly convincing  and  winning  his  followers, 
of  inspiring  them  with  the  same  enthusiasm 
which  burnt  within  his  breast.  The  future  of 
Judaism,  of  the  ages-old  historical  Judaism,  is 
safe  in  Germany  in  the  keeping  of  those  reared 
under  the  influence  of  his  spirit,  for  he  gave 
them  that  which  alone  can  secure  the  well- 
being  of  a  religion,  profound  attachment  to  it 
as  the  one  priceless  treasure  of  their  lives,  and 
an  unyielding  consistency  and  fidelity  which 
will  render  permanently  impossible  anything 
like  profane  or  sacrilegious  trifling  with  the 
precepts  of  their  most  sacred  heritage. 

Nor  is  the  influence  of  his  spirit  confined  to 
the  immediate  circle  of  his  own  congregation, 
splendid  though  this  latter  be;  far  beyond  the 
confines  of  the  queenly  city  of  Frankfort-on- 


xii  LETTERS  OF  BEN  UZIEL. 

the-Main,  where  his  chief  life-work  was  done, 
throughout  Germany,  Austro- Hungary,  and 
Russia,  it  has  worked  wonders  upon  the  minds 
of  Judah's  children;  and  wherever  Judaism  is 
threatened,  apparently  in  its  very  existence, 
and  seems  hopelessly  delivered  over  to  the 
twin  destrucftive  and  disintegrating  influences 
of  modern  anti-religionism  and  mediaeval 
superstition  and  unculture,  an  approach  to 
the  ideal  set  by  Hirsch  seems  the  only  way  out 
of  the  almost  insuperable  difficulty. 

Samson  Raphael  Hirsch  was  born  on  the 
24th  of  Si  van,  5568  (1808),  in  the  city  of 
Hamburg,  then,  as  now,  an  exemplary  Jewish 
community,  renowned  for  the  great  number  of 
its  pious  and  benevolent  men  and  women. 
His  father  was  a  pious  and  learned  Israelite, 
who,  though  a  merchant,  devoted  much  of  his 
time  to  Hebrew  studies;  his  grandfather  w^as 
Rabbi  Mendel  Frankfurter,  who  founded  the 
Talmud  Torah  in  Hamburg,  and  was  Assistant 
Rabbi  of  the  neighboring  congregation  of 
Altona,  for  which  service  he  never  accepted 
any   compensation.      A   grand   uncle    of    his 


SAMSON   RAPHAKIv   HIRSCH.  Xlll 

was  Rabbi  L<oeb  Frankfurter,  the  author  of  the 
two  Talmudic  works,  Hi^pD'?  D^DD")!!  '  and 
nnin*  ^71^  ^  well  known  in  Rabbinical  circles. 
The  power  of  domestic  precept  and  example 
in  shaping  the  religious  disposition  of  the 
boy  was  no  doubt  great,  but  there  was  soon 
added  to  it  an  influence  far  more  potent  in  at- 
tuning his  soul  to  piety  and  to  that  enthu- 
siastic faith  in  God  and  Judaism,  which  never 
left  him  at  any  period  of  his  life.  Isaac 
Bernays,  of  whom  Israel's  greatest  historian, 
Graetz,  says  that  he  understood  the  impor- 
tance of  Judaism  in  the  history  of  the  world 
far  better  than  Mendelssohn,  and  that  he  pos- 
sessed the  ability  to  inspire  his  pupils  with 
joyous  devotion  to  their  faith,  became,  in  the 
3'ear  1822,  Rabbi,  or,  as  he  preferred  to  call  him- 
self, following  the  Portuguese  usage,  Chacham 
of  the  Hamburg  congregation,  and  under  the 
influence  of  his  Biblical  and  Talmudical  in- 
strucftion  and  earnest  sermons  the  3^outhful 
Hirsch  insensibly  found  himself  growing  dis- 
satisfied with  the  commercial  career  for  which 


The  Ridges  Levelled.  2  fhe  Voice  of  Judab. 


XIV  I.KTTERS   OF    BEN   UZIKL. 

his  parents  had  designed  him,  which  dissatis- 
facflion  finally  culminated  in  the  definite  re- 
vSolve  to  choose  the  Rabbinical  vocation  as  his 
life  task.  In  fiirtherance  of  this  plan  he  went 
to  Mannheim,  where,  under  the  instrucftion  of 
the  venerable  Rabbi  Jacob  Kttlinger,  after- 
ward Rabbi  of  Altona,  he  devoted  himself  as- 
siduously to  Talmudical  studies  until  1829, 
when  he  entered  the  University  of  Bonn. 
Here  he  came  into  close  connecftion  with  a  num- 
ber of  Jewish  students,  whose  minds  were  full 
of  restless  and  skeptical  thought,  and  pulsat- 
ing with  strong  ambition  for  careers  of  power 
and  distindlion,  then,  as  now,  so  tremen- 
dously difficult  for  Jews  to  attain  in  Germany. 
They  organized  a  debating  society,  and  among 
the  keenest  and  most  brilliant  debaters  on  all 
subje(5ls,  especially  religious,  was  Samson 
Raphael  Hirsch. 

Abraham  Geiger  was  one  of  those  students, 
and  a  warm  personal  friend  and  admirer  of 
Hirsch,  of  whose  splendid  intelle(5lual  gifts, 
remarkable  eloquence,  strict  moral  princi- 
ples    and     personal    amiability,    he     draws, 


SAMSON    RAPHAEL   HIRSCH.  XV 

in  his  posthumous  writings,  a  most  attrac- 
tive pidlure.  Strange,  indeed,  that  two  warm 
friends,  issuing  from  very  similar  family 
environments,  both  sincere  and  both  inspired 
by  genuine  desire  to  work  for  the  welfare 
of  their  people  and  their  faith,  should  have 
sought  the  realization  of  their  ideals  upon 
roads  so  utterly  divergent,  leading  to  goals 
diametrically  opposed. 

Passing  strange,  but  still  a  phenomenon 
which  repeats  itself  in  every  country  and 
every  age,  and  which  we  can,  without  diffi- 
culty, see  in  our  own  surroundings  and  time. 

Hirsch  had  hardly  passed  a  j^ear  at  the 
University  when  he  was  called,  in  1830,  as 
I^and  Rabbi  to  the  Principality  of  Oldenburg. 
In  Bonn  he  had  been  brought  face  to  face 
with  the  Jewish  religious  problem  as  it  mani- 
fested itself  among  the  intellecftual  classes.  In 
Oldenburg  he  beheld  it  in  all  its  difficulty  and 
apparent  insolubility  among  the  middle  and 
lower  classes,  the  mercantile  and  laboring  ele- 
ments of  the  Jewish  people.  These  twain 
experiences  were  undoubtedly  hard  blows  to 


XVI  I.KTTERS   OF   BEN  UZIEIv. 

his  ideal,  but,  instead  of  discouraging  him, 
they  aroused  his  latent  energy,  and  strength- 
ened in  him  the  resolve  to  do  his  utmost  to 
secure  the  wide  dissemination  and  propagation 
of  the  true  meaning  of  Judaism,  as  he  under- 
stood it,  and  which  through  hard  study  and 
profound  refledlion  had  already  at  that  youth- 
ful period  ripened  in  him  to  a  firm  and  solemn 
convi(5lion.  The  first  fruit  of  this  resolve  was 
one  of  the  most,  if  not  the  most,  significant 
and  characfteristic  of  his  produ6lions,  the 
epoch-making  writing  entitled  ' '  Neunzehn 
Briefe  fiber  Judenthum,  von  Ben  Uziel," 
which  appeared  in  Altona  in  1836,  and  which 
is  the  subject  of  the  present  translation.  The 
fa6l  that  he  published  it  under  a  pseudonym 
is  charadleristic  for  his  intensity  and  single- 
ness of  purpose.  Youth  usually  delights  in 
publicity,  and  loves  to  concentrate  the  atten- 
tion of  the  world  upon  itself,  but  he  had  no 
such  objecfl  in  view.  He  did  not  seek  for 
fame,  neither  should  his  name,  although  his 
official  position  must  have  lent  it  some  weight, 
assist  in  procuring  a  favorable  reception  for 


SAMSON    RAPHAEIv    HIRSCH.  XVll 

his  book.  Not  the  name  or  position  of  the 
author,  but  what  he  had  to  say  should  attra(5l 
attention,  should  give  his  co-religionists  food 
for  thought.  But  the  facft  of  his  authorship 
did  not  remain  long  unknown;  the  letters 
made  a  profound  impression  in  German  Jewish 
circles,  and  soon  all  knew  that  the  youthful 
Rabbi  of  Oldenburg  was  the  author  of  the 
eloquent  and  original  defense  of  Orthodox 
Judaism.  In  the  nineteen  letters,  which 
assume  to  be  the  correspondence  between  a 
young  Rabbi  called  Naphtali  (01^=Hirsch), 
and  his  youthful  friend  Benjamin,  who,  though 
originally  religious,  had,  through  contadl  with 
the  world  and  the  perusal  of  non-Jewish  writ- 
ings, lost  his  early  convidlions,  Hirsch  set  up 
that  view  of  Judaism  called  in  Germany 
"  Denkglaubigkeit,"  which  we  may  translate 
as  "intelledlual  or  enlightened  Orthodoxy,"  al- 
though he  himself  was  intolerant  of  any  name 
except  Judaism  or  "Torah."  The  nineteen 
letters  are  a  sort  of  modern  Moreh  Nebuchim, 
"Guide  of  the  Perplexed,"  though  very  differ- 
ent in  form  and  contents  from  the  famous  work 


XVlll  LETTERS   OF   BEN   UZIEL. 

of  the  Cordovan  philosopher,  to  whose  theory 
of  Judaism,  its  tenets  and  its  law,  Hirsch  was 
strongly  opposed.  I^ike  Maimonides,  how- 
ever, he  addressed  himself  neither  to  the 
simple-minded  believer,  who  found  in  the 
obser^^ance  of  his  ancestral  faith  sufficiency  of 
strength  and  solace  for  the  battle  of  life,  and 
nourishment  for  his  intelledlual  and  spiritual 
cravings,  nor  to  the  rehgious  Nihilist  to 
whom  the  whole  of  theology  is  but  an  ex- 
ploded standpoint,  but  to  the  "perplexed,"  to 
those  whose  hearts  still  clung  with  warmest 
attachment  to  Judaism,  but  whose  minds 
found  much  doubtful,  incomprehensible,  or 
seemingly  purposeless  in  the  faith  endeared  to 
them  by  a  thousand  ties. 

In  classic  German,  with  a  style  ofttimes 
highly  poetic  and  eloquent,  and  always  im- 
pressive, and  with  masterly  argumentation,  he 
proceeded  to  confute  their  objedlions.  Com- 
mencing with  the  demonstration  of  the  neces- 
sity of  the  existence  of  God,  as  a  conditio  sine 
qua  non  of  the  universe,  he  follows  with  the 
postulate  of  the  need  of  a  human  race  to  carry 


SAMSON   RAPHAElv   HIRSCH.  XIX 

into  adluality  the  infinite  potentiality  of 
good  in  the  Deity.  But  with  freedom  of  the 
will  comes  the  inevitable  confiicft  between 
good  and  evil;  humanity  will  not  devote  itself 
as  a  whole  to  the  maintenance  of  the  Divine 
law,  the  free  will  left  to  itself  would  soon  pro- 
duce an  utter  confusion  of  notions  concerning 
good  and  evil.  Hence  the  need  of  an  entire 
community  which  shall  dedicate  itself  entirely 
to  the  mission  of  teaching  humanity  to  .seek 
for  the  good,  or  what  is  the  same,  to  obey  the 
will  of  God.  Such  a  people  must  have  dis- 
tindlive  laws  and  customs  to  sandlify  it  and 
distinguish  it  from  the  mass  of  external 
humanity  as  especially  consecrated  to  the  ser- 
vice of  God.  This  duty  has  been  historically 
assumed  by  Israel;  these  distindlive  laws  form 
the  ceremonial  legislation  of  the  Torah. 
Then  follows  the  analysis  of  the  Torah  and 
the  demonstration  that  every  part  is  essential 
and  necessar}^,  either  to  the  furtherance  of 
the  ideal  of  good  on  the  part  of  mankind,  or 
the  establishment  of  Israel  in  its  characfVer  of 
"servant  of  the  All-One,"  and  that  no  human 


XX  I^KTTKRS  OF  BKN  UZIKL. 

authority  has  power  to  abrogate  any  of  the 
Divine  institutions.  Hirsch's  system  of  what 
he  calls  the  ' '  scientific  upbuilding  of  Juda- 
ism ' '  (wissenschaftlicher  Aufbau  des  Juden- 
thum's)  is  somewhat  peculiar.  While  he 
insists  that  the  dodlrinal  and  ethical  contents 
of  Judaism  can  only  be  ascertained  by  abso- 
lute objedlivity  of  investigation  into  its  Bibli- 
cal and  Talmudic  sources,  uninfluenced  by 
prejudices  or  notions  drawn  from  extraneous 
spheres  of  thought,  he  utterly  refuses  to  con- 
sider the  question  of  the  authenticity  of  reve- 
lation and  the  binding  charac5ler  of  Jewish 
codes.  For  him  the  Torah  is  axiomatic,  as 
unquestionably  real  as  nature  itself.  To 
doubt  or  question  this  would  be  to  put  oneself 
outside  of  Judaism.  Waile  the  first  principle 
is  truly  scientific  and  must,  of  necessity,  be 
approved  by  all,  the  second  principle  can  not 
but  be  a  serious  difficulty  to  many  an  honest 
mind.  Nor  can  it  be  denied  that  in  the  prac- 
tical application  of  the  first  principle,  the 
objedlive  investigation  of  the  Torah,  he  was 
occasionally  guilty  of  both  philosophical  and 


SAMSON   RAPHAKIv   HIRSCH.  XXI 

philological  extravagances,  which  were  sharply 
and  deservedly  attacked  by  his  opponents. 
Nevertheless,  as  a  whole,  his  work  is  pro- 
found and  acute,  and  will  have  enduring 
value. 

The  publication  of  this  work  marked  an 
epoch  in  the  history  of  Judaism  in  Germany, 
and,  indeed,  in  the  world.  It  showed  that 
orthodox  Judaism  was  not  maintained  solely 
by  the  superstitious,  or  narrow-minded  older 
generation,  who  had  never  been  initiated  into 
the  science  and  culture  of  the  age;  but  that  it 
could  be  warmly,  nay,  enthusiastically,  upheld 
by  one  who  had  thoroughly  acquainted  him- 
self with  the  most  daring  researches  of  the  new 
time,  and  met  them  with  equally  bold  and  open 
argument.  More  on  this  account,  even,  than  be- 
cause of  the  convincingness  of  the  general  the- 
ory, or  the  brilliancy  of  the  special  argument, 
the  letters  made  a  sensation,  and  aroused  uni- 
versal admiration .  The  lofty  idealism  which  per- 
vaded his  description  of  the  Israel-mission,  the 
emphasis  with  which  he  pointed  it  out  as  par- 
ticularly the  duty  of  the  cultured  and  wealthy 


XXll  I.KTTERS   OF   BEN  UZIKlv. 

to  remain  attached  with  entire  and  unswerv- 
ing faithfulness  to  the  reHgion  and  the  people 
charged  with  so  sublime  a  task,  w^ere  admirably 
adapted  to  reach  the  hearts  of  the  impression- 
able and  earnest- thinking  in  Israel.  A  sensual 
or  worldly-minded  person  found  nothing  at- 
tra(5live  in  the  man  or  his  ideas,  but  those 
possessed  of  higher  impulses,  and  who  seri- 
ously pondered  over  the  problem  of  life  and 
sought  for  light  and  truth,  were  at  once 
won  over  by  his  profundity  and  evident  sin- 
cerity, and  among  this  best  class  of  Israel  he 
gained  numerous  and  devoted  followers.  It 
w^as  during  his  tenure  of  the  Rabbinical  office 
at  Oldenburg  that  he  received  an  unusually 
gifted  and  talented  student,  w^hose  name  was 
also  destined  to  shine  resplendent  in  the  Jew- 
ish world.  On  the  8th  of  May,  1837,  Hein- 
rich  Hirsch  Graetz,  destined  to  be  known  as 
the  father  of  Jewish  historj^,  then  in  his  twen- 
tieth year,  became  the  disciple  of  the  already 
renowned  Oldenburg  Rabbi.  The  impression 
produced  upon  the  brilliant  and  earnest  young 
thinker  by  his  new  teacher  is  well  described  in 


SAMSON   RAPHAKlv   HIRSCH.  XXlll 

the  memoir  of  Professor  Graetz  by  Rabbi  Dr. 
Philipp  Bloch,  recently  published  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Jewish  Publication  Society,' 
and  this  description  gives  us  an  excellent 
characterization  of  the  personality  of  Hirsch: 
' '  In  Samson  Raphael  Hirsch  he  met  a  man 
whose  spiritual  elevation  and  noble  charadler 
compelled  his  profound  reverence,  and  who 
fully  realized  all  the  expedlations  he  had  har- 
bored concerning  him.  Hirsch  was  a  man  of 
modern  culture,  and  his  manner  was  distin- 
guished, even  aristocratic,  although  he  kept 
aloof  from  all  social  intercourse.  He  was  short 
of  stature,  yet  those  who  came  in  contact  with 
him  were  strongly  impressed  by  his  external 
appearance,  on  account  of  his  grave,  dignified 
demeanor,  forbidding  familiarity.  With  great 
intellecftual  gifts,  and  rare  qualities  of  the 
heart,  he  combined  varied  theological  attain- 
ments, and  an  excellent  classical  education. 
He  was  the  only  teacher  from  whom 
Graetz 's  self-centred  being  received  scientific 


1  Index  volume  of  Graetz's  "History  of  the  Jews."    Philadel- 
phia.    1898. 


XXIV  LETTERS   OF   BEN   UZIEL. 

Stimulation;  perhaps  the  only  man  to  exercise, 
so  far  as  the  stubborn  peculiarit}^  of  Graetz's 
nature  permitted  it,  permanent  influence  upon 
his  reserved,  independent  nature." 

In  1838  Hirsch  published,  as  a  necessary 
concomitant  of  the  letters,  his  * '  Choreb — Es- 
says on  Yissroel's  Duties  in  the  Dispersion,"  ' 
which  is  a  text-book  on  Judaism  for  the  edu- 
cated youth  of  Israel.  Each  law,  ceremonial, 
ethical,  or  devotional,  is  thoroughly  explained 
according  to  the  part  which  it  takes  in  the  vast 
edifice  of  the  ordinances  designed  to  protecft 
Israel  in  its  devotion  to  the  God-idea,  or  to 
assist  in  the  diffusion  of  Jewish  spiritual  and 
ethical  truth.  In  1839  he  pubhshed  "First 
Communications  from  Naphtali's  Correspond- 
ence. ' '  ^  This  was  a  polemical  essay  against 
the  reforms  of  Holdheim  and  others,  and  in  it 
he  showed  himself  a  master  of  controversy. 
With  incontrovertible  reasoning  and  biting 
satire  he  exposed  the  utter  hollowness  and 
unworthiness   of    the    so-called    '  *  Jewish    re- 


1  Versuche  iiber  Jissroel's  Pflichten  in  der  Zerstreuuug. 

2  Erste  Mittheiluugeu  aus  Naphtalis  Briefwechsel. 


SAMSON   RAPHAKly   HIRSCH.  XXV 

forms,"  as  compared  with  the  old,  unadulter- 
ated Judaism,  and  that  the  latter  alone  could 
enable  Israel  to  fulfill  its  mission.  In  1841  he 
was  elecfted  I^and- Rabbi  of  the  Hanoverian 
distridls  of  Aurich  and  Osnabriick,  with  his 
residence  in  Emden. 

In  1844  appeared  "Second  Communica- 
tions from  a  Correspondence  Concerning  the 
most  Recent  Jewish  I^iterature, ' '  '  which  con- 
tained a  vigorous  polemic  against  the  contem- 
porary reform  movement  in  Judaism.  In  1846 
he  received  the  highest  compliment  which 
could  be  paid  to  an  orthodox  Rabbi  by  being 
called  to  the  Rabbinate  of  Nicolsburg  in  Mora- 
via, which  such  distinguished  Talmudists  and 
representatives  of  the  old  school  as  Rabbi  Mor- 
dechai  Baneth  and  Rabbi  Nahum  Trebitsch 
had  held.  That  such  a  community  should 
have  at  that  period  selecfted  a  man  of  modern 
culture  as  their  spiritual  head,  without  any 
suspicion  of  the  genuineness  of  his  piety,  was, 
in  itself,  exceptional,  and  a  high  honor;  but  it 


1  Zweite     Mittheilungen     aus   einem   Briefwechsel   iiber   die 
neueste  j  "idische  lyiteratur. 


XXVI  I^ETTKRS  OF  BKN  UZIKL. 

was  succeeded  the  next  3^ear  by  a  still  greater 
distindlion,  when  he  was  installed  as  Land- 
Rabbi  of  Moravia  and  Austrian  Silesia.  This 
showed  the  high  repute  in  which  both  his 
learning  and  piet}^  stood  in  communities  of  un- 
questioned orthodoxy.  In  Austria  he  passed 
five  busy  and  useful  3^ears  in  the  reorganization 
of  the  Jewish  congregations,  the  instru(5lion 
of  numerous  disciples,  and  also,  at  one  time  in 
public  politics,  as  a  member  of  the  Moravian 
Parliament.  In  1851  he  did  the  most  heroic 
deed  of  his  life;  a  deed  which  demonstrated 
most  unmistakably  that  Judaism  and  truth 
only,  not  worldly  glory  or  reward,  were  his 
life's  single  purpose.  At  that  time  Frankfort- 
on-the-Main  was,  as  regards  its  Jewish  congre- 
gation, entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  reformers. 
Frankfort,  ranking  with  Worms  as  the  oldest 
of  South  German  communities,  where  our  an- 
cestors had,  during  the  dark  msedieval  days, 
shown  such  patient  endurance  and  adlive  hero- 
ism in  the  cause  of  the  sacred  faith,  was  now 
given  over  to  the  reign  of  superficial  and  irrev- 
erent innovators.     Eleven  sincerely  pious  men 


SAMSON    RAPHAEL    HIRSCH.  XXVll 

only  had  withdrawn  from  the  general  commu- 
nity and  founded  the  organization  which  they 
did  not  even  venture  to  call  a  congregation, 
but  modestly  styled  a  society,  "  Israelitische 
Religions  Gesellschaft."  '  These  eleven  tim- 
idly and  hesitatingly  sent  a  request  to  the  Chief 
Rabbi  of  Moravia  and  Silesia  to  be  their  guide 
and  adviser,  hoping  that  his  well-known  Jew- 
ish enthusiasm,  and  his  financial  position, 
which  permitted  him  to  be  independent,  would, 
perhaps^  induce  him  to  accept  their  call.  And 
he  accepted  it.  The  recognized  head  of  Juda- 
ism in  two  great  provinces,  clothed  with  state 
authority,  loved  and  honored  by  his  congrega- 
tions, laid  down  his  brilliant  and  lucrative 
position  in  order  to  accept  a  questionable  place 
as  Rabbi  of  a  small  group  in  a  great  city,  where 
the  Jewish  community  at  large  was  thoroughly 
organized  under  other,  and  hostile,  leader- 
ship. It  was  a  wise  and  far-seeing  step.  Hirsch 
recognized  that  here  in  the  heart  of  Germany 
was  the  spot  where  the  best  and  most  substan- 
tial work  could  be  done  for  Judaism,  for,  if  he 


1  Israelitish  Society  for  Religion. 


XXVlll  LETTERS   OF   BEN   UZIEL. 

could  materially  elevate  the  cause  of  conserva- 
tism in  Germany,  it  would  inevitably  be  pro- 
dudlive  of  the  most  beneficial  results  in  all 
those  neighboring  regions  which  look  up  to 
Germany  as  the  model  of  culture  and  enlight- 
enment. 

His  work  in  Germany  was  blessed  to  a  degree 
far  beyond  what  he  could  have  anticipated. 

Ivittle  by  little,  through  hard,  unceasing  toil 
and  struggle,  he  succeeded  in  developing  new 
Jewish  life,  and  in  organizing  a  model  orthodox 
congregation,  numbering  some  five  hundred  of 
the  best  Jewish  families  of  the  place,  and  pro- 
vided with  all  necessary  institutions  in  the 
most  splendid  manner.  Nor  did  he  confine 
his  efforts  to  the  synagogue;  he  succeeded  in 
organizing  two  schools,  ' '  Biirgerschule  ' '  and 
"  Realschule,"  in  which  a  thorough  Jewish 
training  goes  hand  in  hand  with  the  secular 
education  demanded  by  the  age,  thereby  secur- 
ing the  youth  and  thoroughly  preparing  them 
to  take  the  place  in  the  congregation  occupied 
by  their  parents.  As  conscientious  and  care- 
ful teacher,  as  eloquent  and  brilliant  preacher, 


SAMSON   RAPHAKIy   HIRSCH.  XXIX 

he  labored  for  the  advancement  of  his  own 
congregation,  as  learned  and  instruc?tive 
writer  for  Judaism  in  general.  As  writer  his 
efforts  were  distributed  between  contributions 
to  the  columns  of  the  ' '  Jeshurun, ' '  established 
in  1854,  and  independent  works.  In  the  twelve 
years  from  1866  to  1878  he  published  his 
masterly  ' '  Translation  of  the  Pentateuch  with 
Commentary."  '  The  leading  principle  of 
this  great  work  is  to  prove  the  historical  unity 
of  Judaism,  that  it  can  not  be  divided  into 
different  forms  and  distin6l  periods  of  develop- 
ment, but  that  its  latest  manifestations  are  the 
logical  and  necessary  postulates  of  Biblical 
revelation.  During  all  these  years  he  was 
battling  for  liberty  of  conscience  to  secure  the 
abrogation  of  the  law,  designed  in  the  interests 
of  order  and  system,  but  iniquitous  in  its 
undesigned  consequences,  compelling  Israelites 
to  remain  contributing  members  of  the  local 
congregations,  even  when  these  latter  had 
departed  from  the  standards  of  religious  duty. 
These  efforts  were  finally  crowned  with  success 


1  Uebersetzung  und  Erkliirung  des  Pentateuch. 


XXX  LETTERS   OF   BEN  UZIEL. 

when  the  bill  introduced  by  Lasker  in  the 
German  Parliament,  permitting  Israelites  to 
sever  their  connedlion  with  the  congregation 
without  leaving  Judaism,  became  a  law  on  the 
28th  of  July,  1876.  Hirsch  was  forced  to  this 
step  by  the  unreasonable  acftions  of  the  reform 
Jewish  communal  authorities  of  Frankfort, 
who  refused  his  congregation  absolutely 
necessary  privileges,  even  after  it  had  swelled 
to  hundreds  of  families.  On  this  subject  he 
wrote  two  essays,  *'  The  Principle  of  Religious 
Liberty,"  '  1874,  and  "  On  I^eaving  the  Con- 
gregation," "^   1876. 

He  did  not  find  universal  approval  of  this 
step,  however,  even  among  the  orthodox. 
His  most  notable  opponent  was  Rabbi  S.  B. 
Bamberger,  of  Wiirzburg,  with  w^hom  he  had 
a  warm  controversy,  and  a  large  se(5lion  of 
the  orthodox  Jews  under  leadership  of  Dr. 
Hurwitz  remained  in  conne(5lion  with  the 
main  body  of  the  Frankfort  community.  In 
1882  appeared  his  "  Translation  and  Kxplana- 


1  Das  Princip  der  Gewissensfreiheit. 

2  Der  Austritt  aus  der  Gemeinde. 


SAMSON   RAPHAEI.   HIRSCH.  XXXI 

tion  of  the  Psalms. ' '  ^  This  work  is  carried 
out  in  accordance  with  his  estabUshed  views, 
and  is  distinguished  by  elegance  of  rendering, 
a  painstaking  attempt  to  penetrate  the  inner- 
most meaning  of  each  psalm,  and  a  scrupulous 
adherence  to  the  received  text.  His  effort  to 
find  sj^mbolical  meanings  in  the  enigmatical 
superscriptions  can  not,  however,  be  considered 
particularly  successful.  In  1884  he  published 
an  essay  ' '  On  the  relations  of  the  Talmud  to 
Judaism, "  '  to  defend  the  Talmudic  literature 
against  the  vile  slanders  which  anti-Semitic 
writers  were  then  already  beginning  to  circu- 
late. After  this  he  did  but  little,  the  state  of 
his  health  precluding  adlive  literary  or  minis- 
terial work.  He  left,  however,  in  manuscript 
a  translation  and  explanation  of  the  prayer- 
book,  w^hich  has  since  been  published.  In 
this  conne(ftion  it  is  interesting  to  note,  as  an 
illustration  of  the  high  repute  in  which  he 
stood  among  the  vast  body  of  his  co-religion- 
ists in  the  Russian  empire,   that  shortly  after 


1  Uebersetzung  und  Erkliirung  der  Psalmen. 

»  Ueber  die  Beziehungen  des  Talmuds  zum  Judenthum. 


XXXll  LETTERS   OF   BEN   UZIElv. 

his  death  a  translation  of  the  ' '  Nineteen 
lyetters  "  into  classic  Hebrew  by  M.  S.  Aron- 
sohn  appeared  in  Wilna,  and  within  a  few 
months  several  editions  were  exhausted.  He 
died  with  the  dying  year,  quietly  and  pain- 
lessly, December  31,  1888.  Such  was  the  life 
and  such  the  work  of  one  who  was  undoubtedly 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  figures  in  Israel's 
gallery  of  great  men  during  the  present 
century.  Like  all  great  men  he  had  his  faults. 
''  He  was  an  extremist,  but  only  extremists 
achieve  success.  The  undecided  and  weak- 
kneed  compromisers  can  never  control,  but  are 
always  controlled  by  their  surroundings  ;  but 
he  was  a  master-mind  who  led  his  contempora- 
ries, and  his  was  a  powerful  and  unyielding 
will,  which  stamped  upon  his  time  the  impress 
of  his  ideas  and  con\-ic'lions.  The  secret  of  his 
success  lay,  in  addition  to  his  owm  personality, 
in  the  absolute  consistency  of  his  religious 
system.  His  do(5lrine  of  consistent  obedience 
to  the  will  of  God  and  the  ceremonial  law,  as 
a  part  of  that  will,  in  order  thereby  to  accom- 
plish the  mission  of  Israel,  was  convincing  to 


SAMSON    RAPHAEL    HIRSCH.         XXXlll 

the  minds  of  thousands,  and  inspired  them  with 
enthusiasm  and  devotion. 

He  covered  orthodox  Judaism  with  glory  by 
demonstrating  that  the  old  synagogue  ritual, 
so  bitterly  attacked  and  decried,  not  only  best 
expressed  the  true  spirit  of  Judaism,  but  could 
be  carried  out  in  a  highly  dignified,  impressive, 
and  aesthetic  manner.  He  has  been  accused  by 
advocates  of  the  so-called  Radical  Judaism  of 
making  the  synagogue  service  an  antiquarian 
show.  This  accusation  is,  how^ever,  utterly 
superficial.  Whatever  of  the  antique  his 
synagogue  service  presented  was  due,  not  to 
his  inception,  but  to  the  laws  which,  as  a  true 
Israelite,  he  was  bound  to  hold  sacred  and  to 
obey.  The  service  in  radical  temples  is 
undoubtedly  not  at  all  antiquarian.  It  is 
modern,  but  because  it  is  a  purely  modern  con- 
ventional arrangement,  with  very  much  of  the 
nineteenth  century  in  it,  but  very  little  of 
Judaism  and  its  sacred  heritage  of  inviolable 
law.  The  credit  of  having  boldly  taken  his 
standpoint  within,  not  without,  Judaism,  and 
having   elevated   and   glorified   it  by  demon- 


XXXIV  I^KTTKRS   OF   BEN   UZIEL. 

strating  its  intrinsic  beauty  and  merit,  and  its 
own  native  adequacy  for  every  spiritual  want 
of  humanity,  will  forever  belong  to  Samson 
Raphael  Hirsch,  and  his  name  will  live 
imperishable  in  the  history  of  Israel  as  one 
who  was  in  every  fiber  of  his  being  a  Jew,  an 
idealist,  and  a  true  friend  of  mankind. 

The  TransIvATor. 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE. 

These  letters  came  into  my  hands  as  the 
legacy  of  a  dear  friend.  Much  of  their  con- 
tents attracted  me  greatly,  and  altogether 
they  appeared  to  me  to  consider  many  subjedls 
of  high  importance  from  such  new  and  unu- 
sual points  of  view,  that  I  hope  by  placing 
them  before  my  brethren  to  earn  their  thanks, 
even  if  all  of  the  sentiments  therein  expressed 
should  not  meet  with  universal  approval. 

The  essays  alluded  to  in  the  last  letter  are 
also  extant;  and  I  desire  the  publication  of 
these  letters  to  be  considered  as  a  sort  of 
question  to  the  public,  whether  I  should  also 
publish  those  essays.  The  voices  which  will 
be  heard  in  regard  to  these  letters  will  also 
determine  me  in  reference  to  those  writings. 

Should  the  essays  appear,  then  these  letters 
will  take  the  place  of  the  introducftory  outlines 
with  which,  according  to  the  nineteenth  letter, 
the  author  had  intended  to  preface  his  book. 


XXXVl  LETTERS   OF   BEN   UZIEL. 

As  for  the  letters  themselves,  I  give  them  just 
as  I  found  them,  and  have  not  even  taken  the 
liberty,  considering  that  they  are  the  work  of 
another,  to  improve  here  and  there  occasional 
awkwardnesses  of  style,  fearing  that  T  might 
perhaps  at  the  same  time  obliterate  some 
essential  peculiarity.  Out  of  a  subsequently 
found  later  letter  of  Naphtali  to  Benjamin, 
who  appears  to  have  communicated  to  him 
the  judgment  of  a  friend  concerning  this  cor- 
respondence, I  think  it  not  improper  to  quote 
here  the  following  passage  : 

"  Do  not  forget,  my  dear  Benjamin,  that  I 
did  not  attempt  in  the  sketches  to  map  out  for 
you  an  accurate  design  of  the  entire  ground- 
plan  and  superstru(5lure,  but  only  a  general 
outline  of  the  edifice  of  Judaism.  I  have  only 
led  you  through  one  majestic  nave  of  the 
edifice,  from  which  you  can  form  a  partial 
conception  of  the  imposing  whole.  I  desired 
to  familiarize  3^our  mind  and  heart  at  first 
only  with  one  chief  idea  of  Judaism,  one 
which  should  lead  us  most  speedily  to  the 
sought-for  goal,  and  could  not  therefore  con- 


author's  PRKFACK.  XXXVll 

sider   all   that   which   your   friend   otherwise 
would  be  right  in  missing. ' ' 

To  this  I  would  only  add  the  request  to 
reserve  one's  judgment  concerning  special 
points  in  these  letters  until  one  has  read  them 
completely,  and  pursued  further  the  superfi- 
cially suggested  ideas.  I,  at  least,  while  at 
first  not  a  little  amazed  at  many  statements, 
learned  subsequently  to  think  quite  differently 
concerning  them;  much,  especially  of  the  con- 
tents of  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  letter, 
I  could  only  comprehend  after  I  had  seen  the 
essays. 

Finally,  I  would  express  the  wish  that  I 
may  not  be  deceived  in  the  opinion  that  this 
correspondence  may  contain  the  impulse  to 
much  good,  and  that  through  the  judgment 
of  able  and  sagacious  men  I  may  feel  myself 
encouraged  also  to  publish  the  essays. 

The  Author. 


THE    NINETEEN    LETTERS    OF 
BEN    UZIEL 


FIRST  LETTER. 

My  Dear  Naphtali  : 

When,  recently,  on  the  occasion  of  your 
trip  through  the  town  of  my  residence,  we 
were  privileged  to  meet  again,  after  many 
years  of  separation,  for  a  short  fleeting  hour, 
you  did  not  imagine,  my  dear  Naphtali,  what 
interest  the  subjecft  of  our  conversation  had — 
and,  indeed,  still  has — for  me.  You  found  me 
so  changed  in  my  religious  views  and  pra(5lices 
that,  despite  your  habitual  tolerance,  you  could 
not  suppress  the  questions  which  rose,  as  it 
were,  spontaneously  to  your  lips,  ''Since 
when  ? ' '  and  ' '  Why  ?  "  As  answer  I  gave 
you  a  whole  series  of  accusations  against 
Judaism,  concerning  which  my  e3'es  had  been 

I 


2  I^ETTKRS  OF  BEN  UZIKL. 

Opened  by  reading  and  contacft  with  the  world 
since  I  had  left  home  and  parents. 

You  listened  quietly  to  my  speech,  and, 
when  I  had  done,  replied,  ' '  Do  you  believe 
that  you  really  understand  the  objecft  which 
you  are  thus  condemning?  Have  you  ac- 
quired with  your  own  eyes,  and  by  dint  of 
honest,  earnest  investigation,  an  adlual  under- 
standing of  a  matter  which,  inasmuch  as  it  is 
the  holiest  and  most  important  consideration 
of  our  life,  should  at  least  not  be  cast  aside 
thoughtlessly  and  unrefledlingly  ?  ' '  You 
showed  me  that  the  only  sources  of  my  knowl- 
edge w^ere,  on  the  one  hand,  the  mechanical 
pra(5lice  of  parental  customs  and  a  few  imper- 
fect and  undigested  fragments  of  the  Bible  and 
Talmud  acquired  from  Polish  teachers,  and,  on 
the  other  hand.  Christian  writers,  modern  re- 
formers, and  especially  that  view  of  life  which 
our  present  age  has  brought  forth,  and  which 
has,  as  its  chief  endeavor,  the  suppression  of 
the  inner  voice  of  conscience  in  favor  of  the 
external  demands  of  comfort  and  ease. 

I  was  forced  to  confess  the  insufficiency  of  my 


FIRSl"  LBTTKR.  3 

knowledge,  begged  you  for  instrudlion;  then 
the  coachman  called,  and,  in  bidding  me  good- 
by,  you  had  only  time  to  call  "  in  writing." 
You  have,  therefore,  made  me  distrustful,  my 
dear  Naphtali,  of  the  opinions  I  have  hitherto 
held,  but  you  have  not  refuted  them,  nor  given 
me  better  ones  in  their  stead.  I,  therefore, 
take  advantage  of  your  kind  permission,  and 
repeat  to  you  in  writing  a  number  of  my 
charges,  not  for  the  purpose  of  defending  my 
present  mode  of  life,  but  in  the  sincere  desire 
of  information  and  guidance.  Every  religion, 
I  believe,  should  bring  man  nearer  to  his  ulti- 
mate end.  This  end,  what  else  can  it  be  than 
the  attainment  of  happiness  and  perfecftion  ? 

But  if  we  take  these  principles  as  a  criterion 
for  Judaism,  what  utterly  depressing  results 
do  we  not  obtain  ?  To  what  happiness  does 
Judaism  condudl  its  professors?  From  time 
immemorial  misery  and  slavery  have  been  their 
lot;  misunderstood  or  despised  by  the  other 
nations,  and  while  the  rest  of  mankind 
mounted  to  the  summit  of  culture,  prosperity, 
and  fortune,   its   adherents   remained   always 


4  LETTERS  OP   BEN  UZlEly. 

poor  in  everything  which  makes  human  beings 
great  and  noble,  and  which  beautifies  and 
dignifies  existence. 

The  I^aw  itself  interdicts  all  enjoyments,  is 
a  hindrance  to  all  the  pleasures  of  life.  For 
two  thousand  years  we  are  as  the  plaything  of 
fate,  as  a  ball  tossed  from  hand  to  hand,  even 
in  the  present  time  driven  from  all  the  paths 
of  happiness.  And  as  for  the  perfe(5ling  of 
human  acquirements,  what  culture,  what  con- 
quests in  the  domain  of  science,  art,  or  in- 
vention, in  a  word,  what  great  achievements 
have  Jews  wrought  compared  with  Egyptians, 
Phoenicians,  Greeks,  Romans,  Italians,  French, 
English,  or  Germans? 

Robbed  of  all  the  charac5leristics  of  nation- 
ality, we  are,  nevertheless,  deemed  a  nation, 
and  every  one  of  us  is  bj^  his  very  birth  doomed 
to  form  an  additional  link  in  this  never-ending 
chain  of  misery.  The  I^aw  is  chiefly  at  fault 
for  all  this:  by  enjoining  isolation  in  life,  and 
thereby  arousing  suspicion  and  hostility;  by 
breaking  the  spirit  through  the  inculcation  of 
humble  submissiveness,  thereby  inviting  con- 


FIRST   I.KTTKR.  5 

tempt ;  by  discouraging  the  pursuit  of  the 
formative  arts;  by  dogmas  which  bar  the  way 
of  free  speculation,  and  by  removing,  through 
the  separation  in  life,  every  incentive  to  exer- 
tion in  science  and  art,  which,  therefore,  do 
not  flourish  among  us. 

As  for  our  own  lore,  it  perverts  the  mind 
and  leads  it  astray  into  subtleties  and  the 
7mnuticB  of  petty  distincftions,  until  it  becomes 
incapable  of  entertaining  simple  and  natural 
opinions,  so  that  I  have  always  wondered  not 
a  little  how  you,  who  have  taste  and  under- 
standing for  the  beauties  of  Virgil,  Tasso,  and 
Shakespeare,  and  who  are  able  to  penetrate 
into  the  consistent  stru(5lures  of  Leibnitz  or 
Kant,  can  find  pleasure  in  the  rude  and  taste- 
less writings  of  the  Old  Testament,  or  in  the 
illogical  disputations  of  the  Talmud  ? 

And  what  effedl  has  it,  the  Law,  upon  heart 
and  life  ?  The  broad  principles  of  universal 
morality  are  narrowed  into  anxious  scrupu- 
losity about  insignificant  trifles  ;  nothing  is 
taught  except  to  fear  God,  everything,  even 
the  pettiest  details  of  life,  is  referred  diredlly 


6  I^ETTERS   OF    BKN   UZIEL. 

to  God;  life  itself  becomes  a  continuous  mon- 
astic service,  nothing  but  prayers  and  cere- 
monies; he  the  most  praiseworthy  Jew,  who 
lives  most  secluded,  and  knows  least  of  the 
world,  though  he  permits  it  to  vSupport  him,  but 
wastes  his  life  in  fasting  and  pra3dng,  and  the 
perusal  of  senseless  writings.  I^ook  yourself 
at  the  book  which  is  put  into  our  hands  as  the 
"  Path  of  Life,"  '  and  which  contains  the 
whole  duty  of  the  Jew,  what  else  does  it  teach 
except  pra3dng  and  fasting  and  the  keeping 
of  holidays  ?  Where  is  there  one  word  of  the 
adlive,  busy  life  around  us?  And  this,  too, 
just  in  our  time  ?  Why,  it  is  quite  impossible 
to  keep  these  laws  intended  for  an  entirely 
different  time.  What  limitation  in  travelling, 
what  embarrassment  in  association  with  Gen- 
tiles, what  difficulties  in  ever}^  business  ! 

Please,  please  do  not  point,  for  an  answer, 
to  the  reformistic  tendencies  of  the  age,  how 
little  by  little  everything  is  being  cut  awa}' 
which  does  not  harmonize  with  the  conception 
of   the   destiny  of   man   or  the  needs  of  the 

'  n'^n    nmx— 


FIRST  LETTER.  7 

time.  Is  not  this  in  itself  a  step  outside  of 
Judaism  ? 

Should  one  not  rather,  if  one  is  a  Jew,  con- 
sistently carry  out  these  notions,  instead  of 
attaching  oneself  to  such  contradi(5lory  prin- 
ciples, by  which  nothing  can  be  attained 
except  capricious,  fortuitous  patchwork  ? 

And,  besides,  for  this  very  reform,  every- 
thing is  lacking,  unity,  legally  constituted 
legislative  bodies,  authority.  All  of  these 
efforts  are  only  the  doings  of  individuals,  the 
most  divergent  opinions  prevail  among  the 
Rabbis  and  preachers;  w^hile  some  as  enlight- 
ened men  of  the  time  tear  down,  others  hold 
fast  to  the  rotten  building,  and  wish  them- 
selves to  be  buried  under  it.  I  myself  recently 
saw  a  young  Rabbi  who,  whenever  he  travels, 
in  simple-minded  piety,  contents  himself  with 
prisoner's  fare,  and  whom,  when  one  visits 
him,  one  may  still  find  poring  over  the  folios 
of  the  Talmud;  nay,  he  is  even  said  to  grieve 
earnestly  over  the  fadl  that  some  of  the  mem- 
bers of  his  congregation  are  so  far  advanced  in 
enlightenment  that  they  do  not   close   their 


8  I.KTTKRS  OF  BBN  UZIEI.. 

places  of  business  on  the  Sabbath.  What 
shall  become  of  us,  dear  Naphtali?  I  am 
about  to  marry,  but,  God  knows,  when  I 
think  that  perhaps  I  shall  be  called  upon  to 
exercise  the  duties  of  a  father  to  children,  I 
tremble. 

Excuse  me,  dear  friend,  that  I  have  spoken 
so  freely  and  unreservedly,  although  I  know 
that  you  revere  all  this  very  much,  and,  I  sup- 
pose, must  do  so  as  Rabbi,  on  account  of  your 
position;  still  I  am  confident  that  you  have  so 
much  love  left  for  me  from  former  days,  that 
you  will,  in  answering  me,  forget  your  office; 
for  what  that  teaches,  I  know  sufficiently  well. 
Farewell.  Your 

Benjamin. 


SECOND  LETTER. 

Because  I  answer  you  so  soon,  dear  Ben- 
jamin, do  not  think  I  have  not  maturely 
refledled  upon  the  subjedls  which  you  put 
before  me  in  your  letter. 

You  know  that  in  my  earliest  youth  these 
subje(5ls  employed  my  soul,  that,  reared  by  en- 
lightened but  God-fearing  parents,  the  voices  of 
T'nach^  early  spoke  to  my  spirit,  and  that,  of 
my  own  free  will,  when  my  intelligence  had 
already  matured,  I  permitted  the  T'nach  to 
lead  me  to  Gemara"^ — that  not  external  neces- 
sity caused  me  to  seledl  the  vocation  of  Rabbi, 
but  my  own  inner  life-plan.  So  much  the 
more  do  I  wonder  that  you  can  fear  to  find  in 
me  the  hypocrisy  of  office.  I  would  be  angry 
with  you,  were  you  not  my  friend,  were  I  not 
yours.  But  that  is  the  curse  of  the  time  and 
the  fatal  obstacle  to  beneficent  acftivity  on  the 
part   of  those   in   official    station,    that   that 


Bible.        2  Talmud. 


lO  LETTERS   OF   BEN  UZIEL. 

which  should  be  the  treasured  possession  of 
all,  has  become  the  attribute  of  office,  so  that 
people  are  inclined  to  look  upon  the  universal 
rule  of  life  as  the  mere  regulation  of  an  order 
and  say,  "  Yes,  he  must  be  so,  must  speak  so, 
his  position — his  bread — demands  it."  Sad 
degradation  of  the  age  !  It  seems  quite  natu- 
ral that  a  man  should  .sell  everything,  his 
most  cherished  individuality,  his  inmost  con- 
vi(5lions,  for  bread,  and  everything  is  deemed 
excusable  if  it  but  jaeld  bread,  bread  !  But 
perhaps  you  rejoice,  Benjamin,  and  thousands 
with  you,  that  all  of  this  has  been  forced  to 
flee  for  refuge  within  the  limits  of  an  official 
class,  for  in  this  you  may  see  a  hope — and 
indeed  a  prospecft — that  it  will  soon  be  expelled 
even  from  there,  and  the  consistent  process  of 
erec5ling  life  upon  the  twin  foundation  princi- 
ples of  happiness  and  perfedlion,  suspended 
between  heaven  and  earth,  and  supported  by 
themselves,  may  soon  begin. 

Excuse  me  this  excitement,  dear  friend;  I 
will  also  try  to  forget  that  you  spoke  so.  I 
proceed,  therefore,  to  answer  your  letter,  and 


SECOND    LETTER.  II 

can  dispense,  I  hope,  without  fear  of  angering 
you,  with  the  giving  of  a  special  assurance 
that  my  official  station  will  not  influence  my 
reply. 

You  estimate  the  value  of  Judaism  by  the 
principle  of  the  purpose  of  human  existence, 
and  this,  in  your  view,  is  found  in  happiness 
and  perfecftion.  I  could  ask:  Is  it  so  sure  that 
happiness  and  perfe(5lion  form  the  goal  and 
objecft  of  man's  being?  I  could  ask  upon 
what  basis  you  found  this  opinion,  or  what 
could  you  answer  to  the  careless  pleasure- 
seeker  or  criminal,  who  thinks  the  excitement 
and  sensual  lust  of  the  moment  a  greater  hap- 
piness than  all  temporal  or  eternal  blessings  ? 
Every  one  must  be  permitted  to  be  his  own 
judge  of  what  constitutes  happiness  for  him, 
for  happiness  decreed  in  accordance  with  any 
compulsory  external  standard,  ceases  to  be 
happiness  !  And  the  perfecting  of  one's 
being,  the  mounting  of  the  highest  intellectual 
heights  !  By  how  few  ever  attained,  by  how 
few  attainable  ! 

Truth    itself    is   conceived   by   a   thousand 


12  LETTERS  OF   BKN  UZIEL. 

thinkers  in  a  thousand  different  ways.  To 
negle(5l  its  pursuit  is,  after  all,  only  a  sin 
against  oneself,  and,  therefore,  one  can  only 
be  accountable  to  oneself.  For  to  whom  would 
I  owe  an  accounting,  if  this  principle  only  de- 
mands the  promotion  of  the  happiness  and  per- 
fedlion  of  others  as  a  means  of  attaining  my 
own,  and  I  relinquish  this  ?  How,  I  would  ask 
you,  is  it  with  the  multitude  of  unhappy  and 
imperfe(5l  ones  outside  of  Judaism  ?  But  I  will 
omit  all  these  questions.  Let  us  put  aside  for 
a  while  the  standard  of  measurement,  and  let 
us  try  to  know  that  which  we  desire  to  mea- 
sure— ^Judaism,  in  its  history  and  teachings. 
Perhaps,  on  the  way,  we  may  learn  to  think 
differently  concerning  the  destiny  of  man- 
kind, and  may  obtain  a  different  mode  of  dis- 
cerning the  purpose  of  the  existence  of  the 
nations,  and  their  duties.  But  we  must  become 
acquainted  with  it  from  the  source  which  it 
itself  points  out  to  us;  which  it  has  rescued 
from  the  wreck  of  all  its  other  fortunes  as  the 
only  original  document  and  source  of  instruc- 
tion concerning  its  true  essence — from  its  To- 


SECOND  i,e:ttkr.  13 

rah.  Its  history  we  must  learn  from  it,  for 
Judaism  is  an  historical  phenomenon,  and  for 
its  origin,  its  first  entrance  into  history,  and 
for  a  long  subsequent  time,  the  Torah  is  the 
only  monument.  And  if,  at  the  cradle  of  this 
people,  we  were  to  hear  mystic  voices,  such  as 
no  other  nation  ever  heard — voices  announc- 
ing the  purpose  of  this  people's  existence — for 
which  it  entered  into  history,  should  we  not 
hearken  to  these  voices,  and  try  to  comprehend 
them,  that  we  might  thus  understand  it  and  its 
history  ?  It  is  the  only  source  of  its  law,  writ- 
ten and  oral.  Therefore,  to  the  Torah!  But, 
before  we  open  it,  let  us  consider  how  we  shall 
read  it.  Not  for  the  purpose  of  making  philo- 
logical and  antiquarian  investigations,  nor  to 
find  support  and  corroboration  for  antediluvian 
or  geological  hypotheses,  nor  either  in  the  ex- 
pedlation  of  unveiling  supermundane  myste- 
ries, but  as  Jews  must  we  read  it — that  is  to 
say,  looking  upon  it  as  a  book  given  to  us  by 
God  that  we  may  learn  from  it  to  know  our- 
selves— what  we  are,  and  what  we  should  be 
in  this  our  earthly  existence.     It  must  be  to 


14  IvKTTERS   OF   BKN   UZIKL. 

US  Tor  ah — that  is,  instrucftion  and  guidance  in 
this  divine  world;  a  generator  of  spiritual  life 
within  us.  Our  desire  is  to  apprehend  Juda- 
ism; therefore,  we  must  take  up  our  position 
in  thought  within  Judaism,  and  must  ask  our- 
selves, *'  What  will  human  beings  be  who  rec- 
ognize the  contents  of  this  book  as  a  basis  and 
rule  of  life  given  to  them  by  God  ?  "  In  the 
same  way  we  must  seek  understanding  of  the 
witzvoth,  the  commandments — that  is  to  say, 
we  must  strive  to  know  their  extent  and  bear- 
ing from  the  written  and  oral  law.  All  of  this 
must  take  place  from  the  standpoint  of  the 
obje(5l  of  all  this  procedure,  the  finding  of  the 
true  law  of  life.  Only  when  you  have  thus 
comprehended  Judaism  from  itself,  as  it  repre- 
sents itself  to  be,  and  have  then  found  it  unten- 
able and  unworthy  of  acceptance,  may  you,  if 
you  wish,  cast  upon  it  the  stone  of  obloquy. 
We  must  also  read  the  Torah  in  Hebrew — that 
is  to  say,  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  that 
language.  It  describes  but  little,  but  through 
the  rich  significance  of  its  verbal  roots  it  paints 
in  the  word  a  picflure  of  the  thing. 


SECOND   I.KTTKR.  15 

It  only  joins  for  us  predicate  to  subjedl,  and 
sentence  to  sentence;  but  it  presupposes  the 
listening  soul  so  watchful  and  attentive  that 
the  deeper  sense  and  profounder  meaning, 
which  lie  not  upon  but  below  the  surface, 
may  be  supplied  by  the  independent  a(5lion  of 
the  mind  itself.  It  is,  as  it  v/ere,  a  semi- 
symbolic  writing.  With  wakeful  eye  and  ear, 
and  with  soul  roused  to  adlivity,  we  must  read; 
nothing  is  told  us  of  such  superficial  im- 
port that  we  need  only,  as  it  were,  accept  it 
with  half  roused  dreaminess;  we  must  strive 
ourselves  to  create  again  the  speaker's 
thoughts,  to  think  them  over,  or  the  sense 
will  escape  us.  We  must  follow  also  the  same 
method  in  studying  the  viitzvoth,  when  they 
assign  a  purpose  for  any  particular  objedl,  or 
ordain  some  symbolic  pra(5lice.  There  we 
Qiust  strive  to  discover  analytically  the  correc- 
tion of  the  purpose  with  this  particular  obje(5l; 
here  the  natural  method  of  pra<5lically  express- 
ing such  an  idea  in  consideration  of  its  reason 
and  connedlion.  I  only  point  out  to  you  the 
path  which  I  have  followed.     To  you  I  shall 


1 6  LKTTKRS  OF  BEN  UZIKIy. 

give  only  dire(5l  results,  and  that  only,  for  the 
present,  in  general  outlines;  later,  if  you  wish, 
you  shall  learn  the  details,  and  also  the  rea- 
sons for  the  methods  of  investigation. 

Now,  let  us  read.  May  you  forget  all  the 
annoyance  which  the  reading  of  these  waitings 
caused  you  in  your  youth;  forget  all  the  preju- 
dices which  you  may  have  imbibed  from  dif- 
ferent sources  against  these  writings.  I^et  us 
read  as  though  we  had  never  read  them ;  as 
though  we  had  never  heard  of  them.  Let  us 
arouse  in  our  soul  the  life  questions,  "What 
is  the  world  in  me,  and  around  me,  to  me? 
What  am  I;  w^hat  should  I  be  to  it?  What 
am  I ;  what  should  I  be  as  man-Israel  ? ' ' 

With  such  interrogative  spirit  let  us  read, 
and  receive  the  answer  as  Jews,  from  the  mouth 
of  the  being  who  alone  can  give  the  explana- 
tion— from  Deity.     Farewell. 


THIRD  LETTER. 
I  have  left  you  time  till  this  letter,  so  that 
the  life-questions  which  I  touched  upon  toward 
the  end  of  the  previous  letter  might  grow 
within  you,  and  that  you  might  perhaps  have 
already  taken  into  your  hand  in  the  proper 
frame  of  mind  the  book  of  life.  We  will  now 
open  it  together.  You  will  agree,  my  Ben- 
jamin, that  what  we  wish  is  to  become 
acquainted  with  Israel,  to  learn  the  import 
and  significance  of  this  name,  which  we  bear 
by  reason  of  birth,  what  we  are  and  should  be 
as  bearers  thereof.  But  Israel  is  an  historical 
phenomenon  among  the  other  manifestations 
of  the  world's  records,  and  therefore  the  next 
question  is,  what  is  the  meaning  of  history  ? 
Historj^,  however  differently  we  may  conceive 
it,  is  without  doubt  the  way  to  fulfill  the  des- 
tiny of  man  in  universal  humanity,  therefore 
the  next  question  is,  what  is  man,  what  should 
he  be  ?  But  man  is  not  isolated,  he  is  a 
creature  amidst  the  other   creatures,  affecfted 

17 


1 8  IvETTERS   OF   BEN   UZIEE. 

by  and  affedling  them;  therefore  we  must  next 
ask,  what  is  the  world  ?  Israel,  history,  man- 
kind, the  world — they  all  can  only  be  com- 
prehended through  God,  the  creator,  as  a  work 
of  art  is  only  then  perfe(5lly  understood,  when 
we  have  an  insight  into  the  plans  of  the 
master,  and  to  our  e3^e  God  reveals  himself 
only  in  His  works.  Thus  the  Torah — the 
Divine  Book  of  the  I^aw — leads  through  the 
concept  of  Israel  and  Israel's  duties,  to  the 
knowledge  of  God,  the  world,  the  missions  of 
mankind,  and  history.  Let  us  follow  the  law 
upon  this  path. 

The  Torah  summons  us  to  view  heaven  and 
earth  and  speaks  "  from  heaven  to  earth,  from 
earth  to  heaven,  everything  which  thou  seest 
existing,  when  it  came  into  existence,  ri^t^*J»?*^D 
D^1'7^?  N^D  in  its  beginning  God  was  acftive 
as  its  creator.  Seest  thou  the  heaven  in  its 
eternally  silent,  unchanging  course,  bearer  of 
light  and  heat  and  all  the  motive  forces  of  our 
earth,  supporter  of  the  earth- world,  seest  thou 
it  with  its  millions  of  starry  worlds,  or 
resplendent  with  the  refulgence  of  the  magnif- 


THIRD    I.ETTER.  19 

icently  radiant  sun-ball,  or  the  earth,  the 
swift  runner,'  with  its  eternal  circles  of  origi- 
nating and  passing  away,  of  blooming  and 
withering,  of  life  and  death,  eternally  strug- 
gling from  ceasing,  fading,  and  death,  to  ever 
new  existence,  bloom,  and  life;  dost  thou  see 
it  with  its  millions  of  produdlions,  stones, 
plants,  animals,  all  of  which  it  produces, 
nourishes,  and  again  takes  back  into  its  bosom; 
dost  thou  see  the  light,  the  messenger  of 
heaven  to  earth,  which  coaxes  all  to  life  and 
leads  from  life,  through  which  thou  seest 
everything  which  is,  and  everything  arrays 
itself  for  thee  in  resplendent  colors ;  dost 
thou  see  the  firmament  spread  out  around  the 
earth,  which  receives  the  ray  of  light,  and 
alters  it  to  suit  the  necessity  of  the  earth,  in 
which  the  clouds  move  and  water  the  parched 
earth,  the  thirsty  grasses,  and  beasts,  and  men  ? 
Seest  thou  the  universal  ocean,  with  all-encom- 
passing arm  of  flood  embracing  the  earth,  or 
the  springs  which  burst  forth  from  the  fissures 
of  the  rocks  and  flow  on  as  rivulets,  brooks, 

1  A  play  in  the  term  pN  from  }*T1  to  run. 


20  I.KTTKRS  OF   BEN  UZIKI.. 

and  mighty  rivers?  Dost  thou  rejoice  in  the 
firm  surface  of  the  earth  upon  which  thou 
walkest  safe  and  secure  together  with  thy  dear 
ones;  hast  thou  pleasure  in  its  meadowy 
expanse  or  its  leafy  trees,  or  in  all  the  living 
beings  which  stir  so  animatedly  in  the  waters 
and  in  the  air,  or  dwell  with  thee  on  earth  ? 
Dost  thou  see  sun,  moon,  and  stars,  which 
from  their  celestial  positions  above  thee  regu- 
late the  times  of  day  and  month  and  the 
seasons  of  the  year,  and  determine  the  recurring 
periods  of  waking  and  sleep,  of  rise  and  fall, 
of  bloom  and  decay  on  earth  ? 

"  One  God  exists,  one  omnipotent  Creator," 
proclaims  the  Torah;  "through  His  word  all 
which  is  was  created. ' '  Heaven  and  earth  are 
His  work;  His  are  light  and  air,  sea  and  dry 
land;  His,  plants  and  fishes,  birds,  insecSls,  and 
all  beasts;  His,  creation  sun,  moon,  and  stars. 
He  spake  ^^:**.^  and  it  was.  Behold  now 
separately  each  created  thing,  from  the  blade 
of  grass  to  the  vast  sun-ball,  each  with  its 
special  purpose  and  each  specially  adapted  in 
its  form  and  matter  for  that  purpose;  the  same 


THIRD   Iv:e:TTBR.  21 

Almighty  wisdom  formed  and  designated  each 
for  its  special  purpose.  This  Divine  wisdom 
proclaimed  to  the  light,  ' '  serve  the  day  ;  "  to 
the  darkness,  * '  serve  the  night  ;  "  to  the 
firmament,  "  be  the  heaven  over  the  earth  ;  " 
to  the  gathering  of  waters,  ' '  be  thou  the 
ocean  ;  "  to  the  dry  substance,  ''  become  earth, 
scene  of  life  and  development ;  "  to  the 
planets,  "be  ye  rulers  of  the  seasons."  It 
determined  the  purpose,  and  according  to 
the  purpose,  it  ordained  for  its  objecfl  matter, 
form,  force,  and  dimensions.  It  spake,  p  ^*1^1 
and  it  was  as  it  is.  Infinitesimally  small  or  in- 
finitely great,  all  was  created  by  the  word  of 
God,  determined  by  His  will,  formed  by  His 
finger.  All  the  forces  which  thou  seest  work- 
ing in  everything,  and  all  the  laws,  according 
to  which  they  work  and  which  thou  noticest 
and  admirest;  from  the  force  and  the  law,  in 
obedience  to  which  a  stone  falls  or  a  seed  of 
corn  grows  into  a  plant ;  to  the  force  and 
the  law  in  accordance  with  which  the 
planets  move  in  their  orbits  or  thy  intel- 
le(5l   expands;   to   God,   the  Universal  Force, 


22  LETTERS  OF   BEN   UZIEL. 

they  all  belong;   His  word  prevails  in  every 
law. 

Now,  notice  again  this  great  throng  of 
beings,  tho  separated  and  distinguished  by 
peculiar  construcftion  and  different  purposes, 
yet  united  in  one  great  harmonious  system, 
each  working  in  its  own  place,  its  own  time, 
and  according  to  its  own  measure  of  force, 
none  interfering  with  the  other,  each  bearing 
the  All  and  born  by  the  All.  Who  is  it  that 
has  harmonized  all  these  opposites  and  united 
the  countless  into  the  All  ?  D\*1^K  ^ly) 
^t:^*nn  pi  nij^n  pn.  it  is  the  same  All-One 
who  has  established  harmony  between  light  and 
darkness,  between  life  and  death.  As  His  love 
supplies  matter  and  force  to  work,  so  also  does 
the  finger  of  His  justice  point  limitation,  goal, 
and  measure.  "  Harmonizer  of  Contrasts  is 
His  name. ' '  And  everything  which  He  created, 
formed,  and  arranged — D^*^^^?  ^^y) — He  also 
blessed  with  the  blessing  of  permanence  and 
development.  Not  only  all  7L'as  through  Him, 
all  zs  through  Him .  His  blessing  is  every  bloom 
and  blossom;  His  blessing  every  germ  and  every 


THIRD   LETTER.  23 

fruit;  His  blessing  the  mother's  offspring;  His 
blessing  the  babe  pressed  to  the  loving  breast. 
And  He — who  created,  formed,  blessed,  and 
ordered — l^^^) — invisible  as  the  soul  in  thy 
body — He  withdrew  from  gaze  and  concealed, 
like  the  soul,  in  His  creation  He  continues  to 
work,  preserve  and  develop,  invisible.  His 
work  thou  seest,  His  formations  thou  admirest. 
His  laws  thou  searchest  out,  His  blessings 
thou  enjoyest,  but  Him,  the  Creator,  Shaper, 
Orderer,  Benefacftor  of  the  world,  Him  thy 
mortal  eye  shall  ne'er  behold.  Therefore, 
when  thou  seest  and  wonderest,  studiest,  and 
enjoyest,  bend  the  knee  and  adore  Him,  the 
Only  One,  who  created  and  formed,  ordered 
and  blessed,  and  worship  Him  as  power, 
wisdom,  justice,  and  love  universal  and 
eternal. 

' '  Attribute  to  God  all  the  offspring  of  forces. 
Attribute  to  God  all  glory  and  power! 
Attribute  to  God  the  revelation  of  His  name, 
Bow  down  to  Him  in  raiment  of   the  sanc- 

tury ! 
The  voice  of  God  is  upon  the  waters, 


24  I.KTTKRS  OF   BKN  UZIEI.. 

The  Almighty  One  of  creation  thunders, 
God  is  upon  the  mighty  floods. 
The  voice  of  God  is  in  every  force, 
The  voice  of  God  is  inall  beauty. 
The  voice  of  God  breaketh  the  cedars, 
God  shattereth  the  forests  of  I^ebanon, 
He  causeth  them  to  skip  like  the  foal, 
lycbanon  and  Siryon  as  the  young  Re' em. 
The  voice  of  God  splitteth  the  flaming  fire, 
The  voice  of  God  terrifieth  the  wilderness, 
God  affrighteth  the  wilderness  of  Kadesh ! 
The  voice   of  God  maketh  the  gazelles  give 

birth, 
And  strippeth  bare  the  forests. 
And  in  the  temple  of  His  worship 
His    All    proclaims      '  Revelation.'       (Psalm 

xxix.)" 

' '  Even  for  this  doth  my  heart  tremble  and  stir 

from  its  place, 
Hear  ye,  hear! — the  threatening  of  His  voice 

and  the  word — 
How  it  leaps  from  His  mouth ! 
Under  the  whole  heaven  we  see  Him, 


THIRD   I.KTTKR.  25 

His  light  on  the  pinions  of  the  earth. 

After  Him  rolls  the  thunder — 

He  thunders  in  the  voice  of  His  majesty — 

But  He  followeth  not  the  track— e'en  though 
His  voice  is  heard. 

Thus  doth  Omnipotence  thunder — miracles  in 
His  voice, 

He  doeth  great  taings,  though  we  notice  not, 

Speaketh  to  the  snow,  ' '  be  upon  the  earth  ! ' ' 
"  And  thou  rain,  be  messenger  of  heaven  !  " 

Verily  the  rain  is  the  embassy  of  His  power. 

Upon  the  hand  of  every  man  He  imprinteth 

His  seal, 
Remembereth  every  member  of  His  creation, 
Gathereth  the  wild  beasts  in  their  lairs, 
That  they  rest  in  their  hiding-places. 
Storms  come  from  hidden  recesses. 
In  its  season  icy  coldness, 
From  the  breath  of  God — He  causeth  frost. 
And  the  broad  watery  expanse  becometh  firm. 
When,  also,  bright  rays  dispel  the  mists 
He  is  it,   who  scattereth   the  clouds  by  His 

light. 
He!    Cause  of  all  causes!     In  wisdom  creative 


26  I^KTTBRS   OF   BKN  UZIEI.. 

He  changeth  them  that  they  fit  their  pur- 
pose. 
All  is  as  He  biddeth  it  be  for  His  world  of 

men,  for  the  earth, 
For  instru(5lion,  for  earth-perfedlion,  for  love. 
We  find  Him."     (Job  xxxvii.) 

Therefore,  one  creator  is!  All  else,  every- 
thing which  thou  knowest,  is  the  creation,  the 
revelation  of  this  Only  One!  Everything  is 
from  Him,  and  subjed  to  Him,  through  Him 
created,  existing,  adlive!  And  this  world — 
what  may  it  be?  We  tread  upon  holy  soil, 
my  Benjamin  ;  we  live  in  a  divine  world, 
God's  creature  and  servant  is  every  being 
around  us!  Every  force  is  God's  messenger; 
every  portion  of  matter  given  it  by  God  to  be 
influenced,  modified,  and  worked  upon  in  ac- 
cordance with  God's  omnipotent  law.  Every- 
thing serves  God,  each  in  its  place,  in  its  time, 
with  the  quantity  of  forces  and  means  given  it, 
fulfilling  His  word,  contributing  its  share  to  the 
work  of  the  universe,  which  He  joins  together 
to  the  whole  perfeA  edifice — everything  serves 
God. 


THIRD   LETTER.  27 

*'  He,  who  clotheth  Himself  with  light 
As  with  a  garment; 

Who  spreadeth  out  the  heavens  as  a  carpet, 
Who  ere(5leth  over  the  waters  His  arches, 
Layeth  the  clouds  at  His  feet. 
Who  walketh  upon  the  wings  of  the  wind, 
He  maketh  the  storms  His  messengers. 
The  flaming  fire  His  servants. ' '      (Psalm  civ. ) 
Servants  are  they  all,  the  storm  wind,  the 
lightning,  the  rain,   and  the  snow;  a  servant 
is  the  worm  which  crawls  at  thy  feet,  the  blade 
of  grass  which  nods  to  thee  on  the  way,  the 
thunder  which  rolls  majestic  above  thee,  and 
the  cool  breeze  which  fans  refreshment  to  thy 
fevered  cheek — all  serve  the  lyord. 
' '  For,  as  the  rain  and  the  snow  descend  from 

Heaven 
And  return  not  thither  until  they  have  moist- 
ened the  earth. 
And  caused  it  to  bear  and  yield  fruit 
Until  it  have  given  seed  to  the  sower 
And  bread  to  the  eater; 

Thus  also  is  My  word  which  cometh    forth 
from  My  mouth. 


28  I.KTTERS   OF   BEN  UZIKL. 

It  shall  not  return  unto  Me  empty : 
But  it  shall  do  that  which  I  desire 
And  accomplish  that  for  which  I  sent  it  forth." 

(Isaiah  Iv  :  lo,  ii.) 

All  things  are  .servants  about  the  throne  of 
God!  "  For,"  say  the  sages,  "not  with  one 
creative  word  did  the  Almighty  summon  all 
things,  the  universe  and  the  individual,  into 
being,  so  that  all  should  depend  immediately 
upon  His  behest  for  its  existence  and  adlivity, 
and  that  nothing  should  bear  and  uphold  any 
other  thing,  but  that  all  should  be  direcftly 
born  and  upheld  by  God  alone.  On  the  con- 
trary, in  a  series  of  ten  developments  God 
called  His  world  into  existence,  created  an 
abundance  of  forces,  and  caused  them  to  per- 
vade each  other,  and  influence  each  other, 
in  accordance  with  His  will — uniting  and 
separating  them  in  such  a  manner,  that 
each  should  assist  in  maintaining  the 
other ;  that  none  should  contain  alone  the 
conditions  of  its  existence  and  adlivity  in 
itself,  but  should  receive  from  fellow  beings, 
and   impart   to   fellow  beings,    the    potencies 


THIRD   LETTER.  29 

of  life  and  work."  '  He,  in  His  infinite 
wisdom,  ordained  this  mutual  interdepend- 
ence in  order  that  each  individual  being 
might  contribute,  with  its  measure  of  force, 
whether  much  or  little,  to  the  preservation  of 
the  All,  so  that  whatsoever  being  should  des- 
troy, a  fellow  creature  should  thereby  deprive 
itself  of  a  condition  of  its  own  life.  Thus 
water,  having  penetrated  the  earth,  is  colledled 
in  cloud,  and  sea;  light,  having  pierced  the 
earthy  crust  and  brought  forth  plants,  children 
of  light  and  heat,  is  concentrated  again  into 
sun,  moon,  and  stars;  the  germ,  offspring  of 
earth,  is  taken  from  the  earth  and  given  to  the 
crown  of  ripened  fruit,  which  henceforth  the 
earth  must  receive  that  it  give  —  thus  one 
glorious  chain  of  love,  of  giving  and  receiving, 
unites  all  creatures;  none  is  by  or  for  itsel«f, 
but  all  things  exist  in  continual  reciprocal 
adlivity — the  one  for  the  All;  the  All  for  the 
One.  None  has  power,  or  means,  for  itself;  it 
receives  in  order  to  give;  gives  in  order  to 
receive,  and  finds  therein  the  accomplishment 


"  Ethics  of  the  Fathers,"  chapter  V,  v.  i. 


30  I.KT'TKRS   OF   BEN   UZIKL. 

of  the  purpose  of  its  existence.  "H," 
"lyove,"  say  the  sages,  "love  which  bears 
and  is  born  is  the  type  of  creation. "  "  lyove, ' ' 
is  the  message  which  all  things  proclaim  to 
thee. 


FOURTH  LETTER. 

Man  ^ — what  is  he  in  this  God-filled  world  ? 
What  is  his  place  in  this  throng  of  creatures 
of  God,  this  choir  of  servants  of  the  Lord? 
Though  the  Torah  were  silent,  would  not  the 
contemplation  of  creation,  would  not  your  own 
breast  tell  you  ?  Man,  is  he  not  also  a  creature 
of  God  ?  Should  he  not  also  be  a  servant  of 
God  ?  Every  fiber  of  your  body  is  a  creation 
from  the  hand  of  God,  formed  by  Him, 
arranged  by  Him,  endowed  by  Him  with  power. 
Your  spirit,  that  world  of  powers,  is  the  crea- 
tion of  God  from  beginning  to  end.  The 
divine  spark,  your  personality,  which,  invisible 
as  Deity,  weaves  and  works  in  this  microcosm, 
and  under  whose  control  stand  intellecft  and 
body  and  the  power  to  use  the  entire  realm  of 
nature  for  its  purpose,  this  mysterious  spritual 
force  in  you  is  itself  emanation  of  Deity. 
Learn  to  deem  yourself  holy  as  creature  of  God 
and,    while   contemplating   heaven  and  earth 

1  Genesis  i  :  27  and  ii. 

31 


32  I.KTTKRS  OF  BEN  UZIKI<. 

and  the  great  chorus  of  servants  of  the  I^ord, 
consecrate  yourself  to  your  mission,  and  pro- 
claim yourself  with  mingled  solemnity  and 
joy,  "  servant  of  God  !  ' '  Since  all  things,  the 
smallest  and  the  greatest,  are  God's  chosen 
messengers,  to  work,  each  in  its  place,  and 
with  its  measure  of  power,  according  to  the 
law  of  the  Most  High,  taking  only  that  it  may 
give  again,  should  man  alone  be  excluded 
from  this  circle  of  blessed  adlivity  ?  Can  he  be 
born  only  to  take  ? — to  revel  in  lavish  plenty 
or  to  starve  in  misery,  but  not  to  work? — not 
to  fill  any  place,  nor  fulfill  any  purpose,  but  to 
let  all  end   in   himself?     The   w^orld  and  all 

^  which  is  therein  serves  God;  is  it  conceivable 
that  man  alone  should  only  serve  himself? 
No!  Your  consciousness  pronounces  you  as 
does  the  Torah,  D\l'?N  ti?^  "an  image  of 
God."  That  is  what  man  should  be.  Only 
when  working  out  some  end  canst  thou  know 

V  God  in  love  and  righteousness;  to  work  out 
ends  of  righteousness  and  love  art  thou  called; 
not  merely  to  enjoy  or  suffer.  All  which  thou 
possessest,  spirit,  bod}^,  human  beings,  wealth, 


FOURTH   I^KTTKR.  33 

every  ability  and  every  power,  they  are  means 
of  adlivity;  HIDt^'?!  mDJ^'?  to  promote  and 
preserve  the  world  were  they  given — love  and 
righteousness.  Not  thine  is  the  earth,  but  thou 
belongest  to  the  earth,  to  respecft  it  as  Divine 
soil  and  to  deem  every  one  of  its  creatures  a 
creature  of  God,  thy  fellow-being  ;  to  respecft 
and  love  it  as  such,  and  as  such  to  endeavor  to 
bring  it  nearer  to  its  goal,  according  to  the 
will  of  God.  For  this  reason  every  being 
impresses  upon  thy  spirit  an  image  of  itself; 
for  this  reason  thy  heart-strings  pulsate  sym- 
pathetically with  every  cry  of  distress  heard 
anywhere  in  creation,  or  with  every  tone  of 
joy  which  issues  anywhere  from  a  gladsome 
being;  therefore  thou  rejoicest  when  the  flower 
blooms  and  sorrowest  when  it  fades.  The  law 
to  which  all  powers  submit  zmconsciously  and 
ijivoluntarily ,  to  it  shall  thou  also  subordinate 
thyself,  but  consciotisly  ajid  of  thy  owiifrec  will. 
"  Knowledge  aiid  freedom,'"  these  words  indi- 
cate at  once  the  sublime  mission  and  the  lofty 
privilege  of  man.  All  forces  stand  as  servitors 
around  the  throne  of  God,  their  capacity  is  hid- 


34  I.E'TTKRS  OF   BEN  UZIEL. 

den  from  themselves  and  covered  are  their  coun- 
tenances, so  that  the}^  can  not  see  the  reason  of 
their  mission,  but  they  feel  within  them  winged 
power  to  acft,  and  a<Si  in  accordance  with  their 
purpose.  Thou,  O  man,  thy  countenance  is  half 
uncovered,  thy  capacity  is  half  revealed,  thou 
canst  comprehend  thyself  as  creature  of  God — 
canst  at  least  faintly  appreciate  the  notion  of 
the  mission  which  He  breathed  into  thy  ear; 
canst  thou  see  thyself  encompassed  round 
about  by  God's  adlive  servants,  canst  thou  feel 
in  thyself  power  to  a6l  and  wilt  thou  not  joy- 
ously join  in  the  cry  of  the  great  chorus  of 
servants,  yt2C^:i)  HCTI^J  ''we  will  do  and 
therefore  hearken  ?  We  will  obey,  and  fulfill- 
ing strive  to  comprehend  the  import  of  the 
command  !  ' '  Consciously  and  freely  !  There- 
fore thou  shalt  be  first  and  highest  servitor  in 
the  company  of  servants  ! 

Not  by  that  which  we  gain,  my  dear  Benja- 
min, can  our  vocation  be  determined,  not 
according  to  the  extent  of  external  or  internal 
possessions  which  we  gather  in  external  or 
internal  storehouses,  should  we   estimate  the 


FOURTH   LETTER.  35 

value  of  our  lives;  what  we  accomplish,  what 
results  proceed  from  us,  these  should  fix  our 
vocation,  and  in  proportion  as  we  use  our 
external  and  internal  possessions  to  fulfill  the 
will  of  God  and  utilize  every  capacity,  small 
or  great,  for  a  truly  human,  God-serving 
deed,  will  be  the  measure  of  our  value.  The 
attainment  of  internal  or  external  possessions 
has  only  a  value  as  the  means  of  securing 
ability  for  such  activity.  From  the  slightest 
mental  power  and  the  nerve  ganglia  which 
minivSter  to  it,  to  the  executive  force  of  your 
hand  with  which  you  alter  creation,  and  to 
which  the  entire  realm  of  nature  is  subjedl, 
and  every  being  which  ever  came  within  your 
reach — all  of  these  are  means  lent  to  you — 
which  one  day  will  appear  as  witnesses  for  or 
against  you,  before  the  throne  of  God,  and 
will  testify  whether  you  negledled  or  used 
them  well,  whether  j^ou  wrought  with  them 
blessing  or  curse.  There  exists,  therefore,  an 
external  measure  for  the  deeds  of  men,  cor- 
respondence to  the  will  of  God — and  an 
internal  measure  for  the  greatness  of  men — 


36  I.KTTKRS  OF  BEN  UZIKI.. 

not  the  extent  of  powers  conferred,  not  the 
amount  of  results  achieved,  but  the  fulfillment 
of  the  Divine  will  in  proportion  to  the  power 
possessed.  Life,  therefore,  may  be  an  utter 
failure  in  spite  of  the  purest  sentiments,  if  the 
deeds  done  be  not  right;  or  may,  on  the  other 
hand,  be  most  sublime  despite  infinitesimal 
results,  if  the  means  did  not  suffice  for  more. 
Happiness  and  perfedlion  are,  therefore,  noth- 
ing but  the  greatest  plenitude  of  external  and 
internal  possessions  which,  only  when  em- 
ployed in  accordance  with  the  will  of  God, 
constitute  the  greatness  of  man.  The  angel 
whose  province  it  is  to  supervise  the  coming 
into  existence  of  man,  says  one  of  the  sages, 
takes  the  germ  which  is  to  be  a  human  being, 
brings  it  before  the  Holy  One,  blessed  be  He, 
and  asks,  "This  germ,  what  shall  become  of 
it  in  life  ?  Shall  he  that  proceeds  from  it  be 
strong  or  weak,  wise  or  simple,  rich  or  poor  ?  "  ^ 
He  does  not  ask  whether  he  will  be  good  or 
bad,  pious  or  sinful,  for  all  things  depend 
upon  the  decree  of  God,  except  virtue  and  the 

1  Treatise  Niddah,  page  i6,  B. 


FOURTH   LKTTKR.  37 

fear  of  the  Lord,  the  pious  reverence  of 
heaven,  these  the  Almighty  leaves  to  the  free 
will  of  men.  I^et  us  not,  therefore,  judge 
man  according  to  that  which  is  hardly  half  in 
his  hands,  but  rather  according  to  that  which 
God  put  entirely  into  his  control,  and  which, 
therefore,  can  alone  constitute  his  greatness. 
The  mission  of  mankind,  thus  comprehended, 
is  attainable  by  all  men,  in  every  time,  with 
any  equipment  of  powers  and  means,  in  every 
condition.  Whoever  in  his  time,  with  his 
equipment  of  powers  and  means,  in  his  condi- 
tion, fulfills  the  will  of  God  toward  the  crea- 
tures who  enter  into  his  circle,  who  injures 
none  and  assists  every  one  according  to  his 
power,  to  reach  the  goal  marked  out  for  it  by 
God — he  is  a  man  !  He  pra(5lises  righteous- 
ness and  love  in  his  existence  here  below. 
His  whole  life,  his  whole  being,  his  thoughts 
and  feelings,  his  speech  and  adlion,  even  his 
business  transactions  and  enjoyments — all  of 
these  are  service  of  God.  Such  a  life  is 
exalted  above  all  mutation. 

Whether  enjoyment  or  privation,  whether 


38  LETTERS  OF   BEN  UZlEly. 

abundance  or  need  be  one's  lot,  whether  tears 
of  resigned  sorrow  or  joy  exultant  be  shed — 
the  truly  human  personality,  unchangeable 
almost  as  Deity,  sees  in  every  gain  or  loss 
only  another  summons  to  solve  afresh  the 
same  problem.  Thus  man  in  his  earthly  frame 
belongs  to  earth,  and  his  terrestrial  existence 
is  full  of  significance.  As  no  passing  breath, 
and  no  ephemeral  grass-blade  or  butterfly 
exists  for  nought,  but  furnishes  its  contribu- 
tion, slight  though  it  be,  which  God's  wisdom 
uses  for  the  upbuilding  of  the  All ;  thus  also  no 
pleasure,  no  thought,  no  deed,  trifling  though 
it  be,  is  empty  and  purposeless;  those  which 
are  right  are  finished  work  delivered  into  the 
hand  of  God  that  He  may  employ  them  for 
the  completion  of  His  universe-plan.  Fulfill- 
ment of  the  Divine  will  with  our  property  and 
our  pleasures,  with  our  thoughts,  words,  and 
deeds,  that  should  be  the  contents  of  our  lives. 
And  we  should  strive  to  ascertain  this  will. 
For  that  is  the  special  and  peculiar  greatness 
of  man,  that  whereas  the  voice  of  God  speaks 
in  or  throiLgh  all  other  creatures,  to  him  it 


FOURTH   LETTER.  39 

Speaks  diredlly  that  he  accept  voluntarily  its 
precepts  as  propelling  force  of  his  life-adlivity. 
Go  to,  my  Benjamin,  and  examine  yourself; 
examine  yourself  in  comparison  with  a  grass- 
blade  or  a  rolling  thunder-peal,  and  if  you  do 
not,  despite  all  your  wealth  of  property  and 
enjoyment  of  inner  and  outer  possessions, 
blush  with  shame  and  veil  your  face  in  the 
presence  of  the  angelic  grandeur  of  such  crea- 
tures, because  of  your  selfish  pettiness;  and  if 
you  do  not  then  rouse  yourself  with  all  your 
strength,  with  every  spark  of  your  being,  to 
acquire  for  yourself  such  angelic  power,  then 
go  and  lament  the  degradation  which  the  age 
has  brought  upon  you. 
"  Bless,  O  my  soul,  the  Lord, 
And  all  my  inner  parts  recognize  His  holiness ! 
Bless,  O  my  soul,  the  Lord, 
And  forget  not  all  which   He  lets  ripen  for 

thee.i 
That  He  forgiveth  all  thy  perversities. 
That  He  healeth  all  thy  ailings, 
That  He  redeemeth  from  the  grave  thy  life, 


So;; 


to  ripen. 


40  LKTTKRS  OF  BKN  UZlKlv. 

That  He  crowneth  thee  with  loving  kindness 

and  mercy, 
That  He  satisfieth  thee  with  good  things,  which 

adorn  thee, 
That   thou   mayest   renew   as   the   eagle    thy 

youth. 

Sunken  man — as  grass  are  his  days, 

As  the  flower  of  the  field  he  bloometh; 

The  wind  bloweth  over  him,  he  is  no  more, 

No  more  doth  his  place  know  him. 

But  the  loving  kindness  of  the  Lord  is  from 

eternity  to  eternity 
Unto  those  who  revere  Him,  and  His  mercy 

endureth  unto  the  children's  children. 
Of  those  who  regard  His  covenant. 
And   remember    His    commandments,    to   do 

them. 
For   He — who   hath   founded   His   throne   in 

Heaven, 
Ruleth  in  majesty  throughout  the  All. 
Bless  Him,  therefore,  3^e  His  messengers! 
Ye  who,  girded  with  strength,  fulfill  His  word 
Obeying  the  voice  of  His  word; 


FOURTH  I.KTTKR.  4I 

Bless  Him,  all  ye  His  hosts! 

His  servants,  fulfillers  of  His  will! 

Bless  Him,  all  ye  His  creatures,  in  every  place 

of  His  kingdom. 
Bless  also  thou,  O  my  soul,  the  Lord."  * 


1  Psalm  ciii. 


FIFTH  LETTER. 

I  had  formed  no  different  conception  of  you, 
dear  Benjamin,  than  your  recent  letter  gave 
me.  What  youth,  still  capable  of  enthusiasm 
for  the  noble,  could  contemplate  Heaven  and 
earth  and  their  hosts,  or  could  reflecfl  upon 
their  work,  or  the  work  of  any  single  creature, 
without  forming  a  notion  of  his  task  in  life 
consonant  with  his  dignity  as  a  human  being, 
or  could  do  otherwise  than  to  cast  away  with 
shame  and  contempt  the  idols  of  silver  and  gold, 
and  particularly  the  universal  idol, ' '  Pleasure  ?  ' ' 
The  objecft  of  such  insight  into  the  true  mis- 
sion of  humanity,  and  of  the  consequent  renun- 
ciation of  sensual  enjoyments,  is  not,  however, 
indolent  withdrawal  from  the  adlive  tasks  of 
life,  but,  on  the  contrary,  manly  vigor,  and 
the  pursuit  of  the  highest  aims,  using  human 
possessions  and  capacities,  not,  however,  as 
ends,  but  as  means.  The  richer  Heaven  makes 
you  in  internal  and  external  possessions,  the 
more  exhaustive  fulfillment  of  His  will  He 
demands  of  3'Ou;  the  wider-extended  and  all- 

42 


FIFTH   LFTTFR.  43 

embracing  does  your  duty  become.  You  are 
right  also  in  saying  that  the  mere  contempla- 
tion of  the  abilities  of  man  is  sufficient  to 
prove  it  his  duty  to  accomplish  some  end. 
Consider,  furthermore,  how  his  whole  physical 
and  intellecftual  constitution  clearly  indicates 
the  tasks  for  the  carrying  out  of  which  he  is 
adapted;  his  head  is  borne  proudly  erecft  that 
his  eyes  may  examine  and  inspedl  the  world 
in  which  he  moves;  his  hands  are  equipped 
with  mobile  fingers  admirably  fitted  for  the 
work  of  the  artist  and  sculptor;  his  intellec- 
tual power  is  sufficient  to  know  the  things 
which  shall  serve  him  as  means  to  his  ends, 
but  beyond  that  the  path  of  knowledge  is  diffi- 
cult and  dangerous,  and  pursued  but  by  few; 
the  development  of  his  mental  force  is  itself  de- 
pendent upon  external  means,  upon  words  and 
communications  ;  but,  in  contradistindlion 
thereto,  the  heart,  the  source  of  all  adlion,  is 
capable  of  embracing  all  beings  in  regard  and 
love,  is  capable  of  the  greatest  increase,  of 
unlimited  progress. 

You  are  right  also  in  asserting  that,  thus 


44  LETTERS  OF   BEN  UZIEL. 

understood,  revelation  of  the  Divine  will  is 
absolutely  required,  whether  external  or  inter- 
nal, or  both.  I  am  not  at  all  surprised  that 
you  can  not  follow  me  in  my  Biblical  interpre- 
tations. For  the  present,  therefore,  accept  my 
outlined  statements  as  though  they  were  mere 
personal  hypotheses  of  my  own;  investigate 
their  intrinsic  truth;  familiarize  ^-ourself  with 
the  thought:  "  How  would  it  be  if  this  were 
\  really  the  contents  of  the  Torah  ? ' '  and  leave 
it  to  me  to  demonstrate  later  that  such  is  really 
the  case.  I^et  us  now  continue.  We  have  now, 
guided  by  the  Torah,  ascertained  the  position  of 
man  in  creation.  Neither  as  god  nor  as  slave 
shall  he  stand  in  the  midst  of  the  creatures  of 
the  earth- world;  but  as  brother,  as  co- working 
brother,  occupying,  however,  the  rank  of  first- 
born among  his  brother  beings,  because  of  the 
peculiar  nature  and  extent  of  his  service;  he  is 
to  be  administrator  of  the  whole  Divine  estate, 
the  earth- world;  to  provide  and  care  for  all 
therein  according  to  the  will  of  God.  From 
God  alone,  source  of  all  might,  does  man  derive 
the  right  to  take  for  his  own  use  the  earth- 


FIFTH   LETTER.  45 

world,  but  with  this  right  comes  also  the  duty, 
only  to  appropriate  the  permitted,  and  to  use 
that  in  stri(5l  accordance  with  the  will  of  the 
Giver.  ' '  Good  ' '  should  be  for  him  only  that 
which  agrees  with  this  Divine  will  and  with 
the  disposition  fixed  for  objedls  by  Divine 
wisdom;  ''  evil  "  only  that  which  stands  in  op- 
position to  these  principles.  Not  that  should 
be  deemed  good  or  evil  which  is  agree- 
able or  disagreeable  to  him,  man;  which  is 
pleasant  or  unpleasant  to  his  sensual  nature, 
or  that  which  harmonizes  with,  or  is  opposed 
to,  principles,  arbitrarily  selecfted  by  himself 
without  reference  to  the  will  of  Deity. 

For  neither  the  gratification  of  impulses 
and  lusts,  nor  ambitious  self-aggrandizement 
and  caprice  constitute  the  task  of  man,  but  he 
shall  elevate  all  his  power,  desires,  and  physi- 
cal qualities  to  be  means  of  carrying  out  the 
will  of  God,  of  bringing  him  nearer  to  his 
sought-for  goal.  Man's  freedom,  of  course, 
postulates  the  possibility  of  mistakes  and 
error. 

Man  has  the  duty  to  submit  willingly  to  the 


46  I.KTTKRS  OP   BKN  UZKAL. 

law  which  all  others  are  compelled  to  obey, 
and  this  naturally  implies  that  he  has  also  the 
power  to  disobey  it.  Through  his  animal 
portion,  his  body  with  its  desires,  he  is 
threatened  with  sensual  lust;  that,  dazzled 
by  the  charm  of  the  pleasant  sensations  which 
the  Divine  love  has  caused  to  accompany  every 
a(5l  of  satisfying  his  needs,  he  may  no  longer 
regard  pleasure  as  the  means  but  as  the  end 
itself.  Through  the  power  of  his  intellecfl  he 
is  threatened  with  pride,  that  because  of  his 
ability  to  control  material  things,  and  to  alter 
them  in  accordance  with  a  certain  perceived 
purpose,  he  may  look  upon  himself  as  master, 
forgetting  thereby  God  the  lyord,  forgetting, 
also,  that  all  things  are  Divine  possessions 
lent  him  for  specific  purposes,  and  may  usurp 
to  himself  the  right  to  subje(5l  all  to  the 
domination  of  his  own  will.  Deepest  degra- 
dation may  result  when  his  entire  effort  is 
devoted  to  the  gratification  of  animal  lust, 
and  the  mind  of  the  ruler  lowers  itself  to  be 
the  slave  of  the  beast,  employing  all  its  skill 
only  to  secure  the  gratification  of  bestial  de- 


FIFTH  LKTTKR.  47 


sires.  Then  is  man  the  most  dangerous 
beast  of  prey,  for  he  is  armed  with  intellect, 
and  the  whole  world  is  not  safe  against  the 
caprices  of  his  passions. 

Scripture  omits  to  narrate  any  revelation  of 
God's  will  to  mankind  in  general,  as  it  re- 
serves this  for  the  later  history  of  a  special 
nation,  to  which  all  which  precedes  but  serves 
as  a  guide  and  an  introdu6lion. ' 

One  educational  commandment  appears, 
and  then  man  and  his  education  by  God  are 
shown.  A  world  is  laid  at  man's  feet  for  him 
to  possess  and  enjoy,  but  one  enjoyment  is  in- 
terdidled,  without  revealed  reason,  solely  as  a 
decree  of  the  Most  High.  For  man  should 
subordinate  himself  to  his  Creator,  and  for 
him  highest  wisdom  consists  in  obeying  the 
will  of  God  as  the  will  of  his  God.  But  to  be 
willing  to  fulfill  the  behests  of  that  will  only 
when  or  because  they  appear  also  to  us  right 
and  wise  and  good,  could  that  be  called 
obedience  to  God  ?     Would  not  that  rather  be 


1  Except  one  revelation  given  after  the  flood  to  the  sons  of 
Noah. 


48  IvKTTKRS  OF  BKN  UZIKI.. 

obedience  to  oneself?  Lust  and  desire  for 
pleasure  tempt  us  with  seducftive  words : 
"  How  attradlive  it  is,  how  agreeable,  how 
sweet  ! ' '  Pride  of  intelledl  adds  also  its  con- 
tribution to  the  words  di(5lated  by  desire: 
"Have  not  we  also  mind,  intelligence,  and 
understanding  ?  Can  we  not,  like  gods,  know 
of  ourselves  what  is  good  and  what  bad? 
Why,  nothing  is  easier  !  How  sweet  it  is,  is 
it  conceivable  that  it  should  not  be  good? 
Besides,  unto  us  belongs  the  earth  and  the 
fulness  thereof ! ' '  Thus  only  the  sweet  is  re- 
garded by  man  as  good,  as  bad  only  the  bitter. 
The  history  of  all  sin  is  the  same.  God  re- 
veals Himself  as  Judge,  but  also  as  Father 
and  Teacher.  Verily,  judgment  is  His  pre- 
rogative, for  does  not  the  earth,  and  the  ful- 
ness thereof,  belong  to  Him  ?  Have  we  not 
received  from,  yea,  from  Him  alone,  power 
and  right  to  acquire  and  to  enjoy  ?  If  we  mis- 
use this  power  but  once,  stretch  out  our  hand 
but  a  single  time  toward  that  which  is  forbid- 
den, have  we  not  thereby  forfeited  all  claim  to 
the  right  of  existence  on  earth  ?     '  *  On  the  day 


FIFTH   LFTTFR.  49 

when  thou  disregardest  the  prohibition,  thou 
shalt  surely  forfeit  thy  Hfe,"  is  the  warning 
of  the  just  Judge.  Nevertheless,  God  does  not 
exadl  the  incurred  penalty  of  sin  from  His 
fallen  child,  but  strives,  with  paternal  love  and 
forbearance,  to  guide  him  to  the  right. 

The  path  to  pleasure  is  made  difficult  to 
discourage  the  development  of  the  animal  side 
of  his  being  and  to  render  less  arrogant  his 
pride;  that  the  real  man  in  him  be  led  upwards 
to  God,  through  realization  of  the  limitations 
of  his  power,  and  that  something  else  must  be 
his  task  and  his  greatness  than  that  which  can 
be  thus  easily  conferred  upon  him,  or  taken 
from  him.  Thus  also  every  one  of  us  is  taught 
even  to-day.  In  our  experience  God's  pater- 
nal teaching  speaks  to  us.  Into  the  realm  of 
the  temporal  each  one  enters  pure  and  capable 
of  attaining  to  the  highest  stage  of  human 
greatness.  That  you  are  born  in  this  particu- 
lar hour,  in  this  certain  place,  amid  such  and 
such  surroundings,  with  your  own  special  par- 
ents, brothers,  and  sisters,  and  with  the  defi- 
nite measure  of  intellectual  and  physical  powers 


50  I^KTTERS  OF  BEN  UZIEL. 

and  material  possession  which  you  hold;  that 
you  find  certain  teachers,  acquaintances,  and 
friends,  that  is  the  Eden  into  which  God  puts 
you.  But  it  is  not  given  that  3^ou  may  in  pride 
forget  Him  and  cling  to  temporal  possessions 
as  tho  they  were  the  eternal  good.  Do  that 
and  sorrows  jll^l^  will  enter  into  your  life- 
tabernacle,  which  will  throw  you  back  into 
your  own  insignificance,  and  will  forcibly  in- 
form you  that  all,  parents  and  family,  friends 
and  acquaintances,  wealth  and  po.ssessions, 
body  and  soul,  are  but  gifts — gifts  of  God,  and 
that  you  in  yourself  are  not  all.  You  are  here 
to  use  every  possession  as  an  instrument  put 
into  your  hands  to  help  you  fulfill  the  will  of 
God. 

But  freedom  delays  the  success  of  education. 
Through  labor  pride  is  nurtured,  and  man 
calls  ' '  his  ' '  the  soil  which  he  has  moistened 
with  his  sweat  (Tp)  ;  the  necessity  of  pro- 
viding for  the  satisfying  of  physical  cravings, 
which  demand  an  increasingly  large  portion  of 
the  good  things  of  the  world,  exalts  again  the 
animal  in  man;  he  sees  in  himself  only  an  ani- 


FIFTH  LBTTKR.  51 

mal,  and  deems  his  mind  only  a  means  of  pro- 
curing the  gratification  of  physical  desires;  the 
human  in  man  sinks  (D^'?^^!)  That  which 
could  lift  him  up,  the  acknowledgment  of 
God  as  the  only  Ruler  and  Father,  and,  there- 
fore, of  everything  else  as  creature  and  servant, 
and  consequently  of  himself,  as  well  as  ser- 
vant and  child,  this  acknowledgment  has 
grown  dim.  For  as  soon  as  man  ceases  to 
look  upon  himself  as  the  empowered  guardian 
and  administrator  of  the  earth- world,  as  soon 
as  he  endeavors  to  carry  out,  not  the  will  of 
God,  but  his  own  will,  and  ceases  to  be  servant 
of  God;  he  sees  no  longer  in  the  strength- 
endowed  beings  around  him  the  servitors  of 
Deity,  but  independent  forces  which  seek  pos- 
session, lust,  and  power,  he  has  no  eye  any 
more  for  the  law  of  the  All-One  whom  they 
all  serve,  and  the  world  divides  itself  for  him 
into  as  many  gods  as  he  sees  forces  in  opera- 
tion. For  him  the  sun  does  not  shine,  nor  the 
thunder  roll,  the  lightning  flash,  or  the  earth 
deck  itself  in  green;  the  storm  roar,  or  the  liv- 
ing beings  reproduce  their  kind,  because  they 


52  I.ETTKRS  OF   BEN   UZIEL. 

must,  but  because  they  wish,  for  the  conscious- 
ness of  the  law  is  gone  from  his  ow^n  breast. 
He,  therefore,  desiring  only  possession  and 
lust,  becomes  a  slave  of  the  beings  from  which 
he  hopes  to  obtain  that  which  he  desires,  he 
bends  the  knee  to  the  creatures  (t^l^N)  until 
finally,  recognizing  the  omnipotence  of  his 
passions,  he  deifies  them;  and,  furthermore, 
since  all  beings  seem  to  him  not  servants  of  a 
great  world-plan,  but  independent  forces,  seek- 
ing power  and  lust,  he  soon  ceases  to  look  upon 
the  pursuit  of  power  and  lust  as  bestial  and 
unworthy  of  man,  but  deems  it  divine,  man's 
most  worthy  goal.  The  acknowledgment  of 
the  All-One  would  lift  him  up,  but  polytheism 
becomes  the  grave  of  his  humanity.  The  gen- 
eration seemed  incorrigible,  and — destruction 
was  its  lot.  Only  one  man,  the  father  of  a 
family,  who  walked  before  the  All-One,  sought 
righteousness,  and  elevated  himself  by  govern- 
ing sternly  the  animal  in  his  nature,  offered 
consolation  in  this  destrudlion  of  the  genera- 
tion. He  was  saved,  with  his  family,  to  found 
a  new  edifice  of  mankind  (IJ. 


t  5 


i  a 


SIXTH  LETTER. 

The  new  generation,  which  should  have 
learned  to  recognize  God  in  holy  awe  as 
Judge,  Master,  and  Savior,  forgot  soon  this 
lesson.  In  its  pride  it  desires  to  establish 
itself  as  master  upon  the  earth,  just  presented 
to  it  as  a  Divine  gift.  Because  of  the  power 
with  which  it  rules  over  nature,  it  believes 
that  it  can  dispense  with  God  in  establishing 
and  maintaining  its  new  life.  Thus  begins 
history.  God  no  longer  wills  the  destruction 
of  humanity,  but  its  education.  By  expe- 
rience He  desires  to  train  mankind  to  the 
knowledge  of  themselves  and  of  Him.  Hu- 
manity must  not  sink  again  to  the  deep  degra- 
dation of  the  perished  generation.  Men  must 
be  dispersed,  lest  the  human  species  slowly 
spreading  over  the  earth  form  but  a  single 
famil}^,  and  the  corruption  of  one  part  be 
quickly  communicated  to  the  whole.  They 
must  be  dispersed  in  order  that  mankind  may 

53 


54  LETTERS  OF   BEN  UZIEL. 

rejuvenate  itself  from  its  own  midst,  and  when 
one  race  has  gone  through  all  the  stages  of 
the  sinful  illusions  wdiich  weaken  and  corrupt 
mankind,  and  is  enervated,  exhausted,  and 
unfit  for  the  Divine  purpose,  it  shall  3'ield  its 
place  to  a  stronger  and  hardier  race,  which 
shall  begin  a  fresher,  purer  life. 

Mankind  must  be  scattered,  must  distribute 
itself  among  all  the  different  regions  of  earth  in 
order  that  the  most  divergent  and  contrary  facul- 
ties of  the  human  mind  may  find  in  nature  the 
needed  opportunities  of  development,  in  order 
that  experience  become  full  and  complete.  In 
order  to  render  this  plan  of  education  possible, 
the  earth  was  reconstituted  after  it  had  been 
laid  waste  and  desolated;  diversified  as  regards 
its  soil  and  climate,  and  divided  into  various 
continents  and  lands,  by  seas  and  rivers, 
mountains  and  deserts.  This  diversity  of  the 
,  earth  was,  by  the  Divine  plan,  intended  to 
profoundly  influence  man,  vainly  fancying 
himself  master  of  the  earth,  and  to  affe(5l,  even 
to  their  innermost  characfteristics,  his  body,  his 
opinions,    his    habits,    his   passions,    and   his 


SIXTH  lette:r.  55 

language.  Thus  should  a  broad  and  variegated 
experience  become  possible.  This  experience 
should  make  him  worthy  of  God  and  of  him- 
self; should  teach  him  to  recognize  the 
supreme  dominion  of  God  over  nature  and 
human  life;  should  cause  him  to  reahze  that 
the  task  of  man  is  higher  than  merely  to 
possess  and  to  enjoy. 

From  this  time  on  nation  after  nation  enters 
into  the  arena  of  history;  each  presents  some 
new  power,  some  new  capacity  of  the  human 
intellea,  and  uses  these  faculties,  in  battle 
with  nature  and  with  each  other,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  obtaining  wealth  and  enjoyment. 
Gladly  would  the  nations  retain  for  all  eternity 
what  they  have  thus  gained,  but  a  higher 
hand,  upon  which  the  conditions  of  their  suc- 
cess are  dependent,  dashes  what  they  thought 
indestru(5lible,  by  a  slight  breath  of  Divine 
potency,  into  ruins,  and  before  the  eyes  of 
wondering  humanity,  it  brings  to  pass  from 
unnoticed  trifles  the  most  tremendous  results. 
When  a  people  has  succeeded  in  climbing  to 
the  summit  of  material  greatness,  in  its  very 


56  LKTTKRS  OF   BBN  UZIKI.. 

greatness,  nay,  even  because  of  it,  it  crashes 
down  into  destrucflion,  and  forsakes  the  sphere 
of  its  adlivity  for  similar  attempts  on  the  part 
of  the  succeeding  generations.  The  time 
must  and  will  come  when  the  inevitable  results 
of  all  these  efforts  will  be  clearly  manifest  to 
the  minds  of  the  latest  of  men.  Then,  when 
these  attempts  are  finally  completed,  when 
every  nation  in  its  rise  and  fall  will  have 
inscribed  in  the  book  of  history,  as  its  judg- 
ment of  human  greatness,  " '?DrT  "  "vanity 
and  folly  ;  "  when  ruined  are  all  efforts  to  at- 
tain lasting  felicity  by  human  possessions  and 
greatness,  and  crushed  all  the  edifices  of  vio- 
lence and  the  schemes  of  materialistic  cun- 
ning; when  only  that  permanently  endures 
which  men  have  based  upon  God-revering 
righteousness  and  love;  after  mankind,  which 
had,  in  strange  delusion,  placed  all  creatures, 
and  even  man  himself,  upon  the  throne  of  the 
Most  High,  has  learned,  in  the  destru6lion  of 
human  ambitions,  the  nothingness  of  these 
I  puny  rivals  of  Deity,  and  lifts  its  eye,  unob- 
scured  by  superstitious  veil,   to  the  All-One, 


SIXTH  LKTTER.  57 

and  comprehends  again  true  human  greatness, 
to  which  wealth  and  lust  are  but  means;  when 
this  knowledge,  this  sentiment,  pervades  re- 
united humanity;  when  men  are  ripe  for  the 
question,  not  ''  what  should  we  do  in  order  to 
be  happy  and  blessed,  but,  when  we  are  happy 
and  blessed,  when  we  bear  the  fulness  of  good 
in  our  hands,  what  shall  we  do  with  this 
blessing  ?  ' '  then 
' '  At  the  end  of  days  the  mount  of  the  I^ord  will    \ 

be  firmly  established  upon  the  peaks  of  the 

mountains,^ 
And  born  by  the  hills — and  to  it  all  peoples 

shall  stream. 
And  there  shall  go  great  nations  and  speak: 
"  Come,  let  us  go  to  the  mount  of  the  Lord, 

to  the  house  of  the  God  of  Jacob, 
And  He  will  teach  us  His  ways  and  we  shall 

walk  in  His  paths; 
For  from  Zion  shall  come  forth  the  law  and 

the  word  of  the  Lord  from  Jerusalem." 
He  will  judge  between  the  nations,  and  teach 

mighty  peoples, 

1  Isaiah,  Chapter  ii. 


58  LETl'KRS   OI^   BKN   UZIEL. 

That  they  shall  beat  their  swords  to  scythes 

and  their  spears  to  pruning-hooks, 
That  no  people  shall  lift  up  the  sword  against 

another, 
And  they  shall  no  more  learn  war. 
O   house   of  Jacob!     Go  before  us,    that   we 

may  also  walk  in  the  light  of  the  lyord  ! 
For  thou  hast  forsaken  thy  people,  O  house  of 

Jacob! 
So  that  they  filled  themselves  from  the  East, 
Became  time-servers,  like  the  Philistines, 
And  satisfied  themselves  with  things  born  of 

strangers. 
And  when  His  earth  became  full  of  silver  and 

gold,  and  there  was  no  end  of  treasures. 
And  when  His  earth  became  full  of  horses, 

and  there  was  no  end  of  chariots; 
Then  also  did  His  earth  fill  with  gods. 
They  bowed  themselves  to  the  work  of  His 

hands,  to  that  which  His  fingers  had  formed. 
Mankind  sank  then,  humanity  fell,  and  Thou 

didst  not  lift  them  up! 
"  Enter  into  the  rock,  hide  j^ourselves  in  the 

dust, 


SIXTH   LETTER.  59 

Before  the  terror  of  the  Lord,  before  the  great- 
ness of  His  majesty. ' ' 

Thus  will  be  lowered  the  eye  of  the  haughti- 
ness of  man, 

Thus  will  be  humiliated  the  pride  of  men. 

And  God  alone  will  be  great  on  that  day. 

P'or  there  is  a  day  unto  the  Lord  of  Hosts 

Concerning  every  proud  and  high  thing,  yea, 
concerning  all  the  haughty 

That  they  sink! 

Concerning  all  the  cedars  of  Lebanon,  though 
high  and  exalted. 

And  concerning  all  the  oaks  of  Bashan; 

Concerning  all  the  high  mountains  and  all  the 
elevated  hills, 

Concerning  every  high  tower  and  every  strong 
wall, 

Concerning  all  the  ships  of  Tarshish  and  all 
the  edifices  of  lust; 

That  the  pride  of  man  may  be  bowed  down 
and  broken  human  haughtiness. 

And  that  God  alone  may  be  great  on  that 
day; 

The  gods  He  will  cause  to  disappear  in  smoke, 


6o  LETTERS  OF   BEN   UZIEI.. 

And  people    shall  hasten    into    the   clefts   of 

rocks  and  the  cavities  of  earth 
From  before  the  terror  of  the  Lord  and  the 

glory  of  His  majesty, 
When  He  arises  to  rule  the  earth. 
On  that  day  man  shall  cast  away  the  idols  of 

his  silver 
And  the  idols  of  his  gold, 
Which  have  caused  him  to  bow  to  the  mole 

and  the  bat; 
And  will  hasten  into  the  fissures  of  the  rocks 

and  hollows  of  stone 
From  before  the  terror  of  the  I^ord  and  the 

greatness  of  His  majesty 
When  he  arises  to  rule  the  earth," 

When  you  will  have  read  through  the  pages 
of  history,  with  the  ' '  voice  which  gathers  all ' ' 
you  will  exclaim — 
' '  Vanity  of  vanities !     All  is  vain !  ' 
What  is  the  end  of  man  with  all  his  toil  under 

the  sun  ? 
Generations   go,    generations   come,    and   the 


Ecclesiastes  i  :  2-15,  and  xii  :  13. 


SIXTH   LETTER.  6 1 

earth-development  marches  ever  to  a  hidden 
future; 

Here  rises  fortune's  sun,  there  it  sinks,  e'en 
while  rising,  and  to  its  place  of  setting  its 
course  is  turned; 

Rises  to  midday  strength — turns  to  midnight 
gloom — 

Thus  circles  the  day,  and  in  its  circling  turns 
again  to  its  beginning. 

All  nation-streams  rush  to  the  sea  of  death, 
but  the  sea  is  not  filled;  to  the  spot  where 
the  streams  are  born. 

They  return  again  to  follow  anew. 

All  words  are  powerless,  man  can  not  speak, 

The  eyes  can  not  see  enough,  the  ear  not  fully 
hear; 

What  was  is  what  shall  be,  what  was  produced 
is  what  shall  be  produced; 

All  new  is  nought  under  the  sun. 

If  thou  speakest,  "  behold,  this  is  new!  "  ver- 
ily, in  the  ages  of  the  past,  it  came  into  being. 

There  is  no  remembrance  of  the  former  ones, 

Forsooth,  of  the  latest  there  will  be  no  remem- 
brance. 


62  LETTERS  OF   BEN  UZIEL. 

Would  I  devote  my  heart  to  search 

Yea,  in  wisdom  to  study  all  that  is  done  under 
the  sun, 

Useless  were  the  toil;  God  gave  it  to  the  chil- 
dren of  man 

For  matter  of  thought,  that  they  might  busy 
themselves  with  it. 

I  see  all  that  is  done  under  the  sun, 

And  behold,  all  is  vanity  and  useless  wearying 
of  the  spirit ! 

That  which  is  perverse  can  not  be  straight- 
ened; 

The  imperfedlions  can  not  be  counted. 

This  is  the  conclusion  of  the  matter, 

After  all  has  been  heard. 

God  thou  shalt  revere,  His  mandate  obey, 

For  in  this  is  the  whole  task  of  mankind. ' ' 

"  O  Lord,  a  dwelling  art  Thou.     Thou  abidest 

with  us' 
Though  generation  follow  after  generation; 
Before  the  mountains  were  born,  Thou  brought- 

est  forth  the  earth: 


Psalm  xc  :  1-7. 


SIXTH   LETTER.  63 

Even  the  inhabited  world  of  men ! 

Yea,  from  hidden  past  to  veiled  future — omnip- 
otent art  Thou ! 

Degraded  mankind  thou  lettest  sink  to  destruc- 
tion's  verge, 

Then  speakest,  "Return  to  human  worth,  O 
children  of  man," 

For  a  thousand  years  are  in  Thy  sight 

As  yesterday  when  it  hath  passed  away, 

E'en  as  a  watch  in  the  night. 

Thou  causest  them  to  flow  away  with  the 
stream  of  life, 

Sleep  they  become; 

In  the  morning  man  is  as  the  fresh  grass. 

In  the  morning  he  flourishes  and  blooms, 

But  at  eventide  he  is  withered  and  dry." 

"  O  God!  be  gracious  unto  us,  and  bless  us,' 
Eet  Thy  guiding  light  shine  e'er  upon  us! 
That  there  be  known  on  earth  Thy  way, 
Amongst  all  nations  Thy  salvation. 
That  the  nations  acknowledge  Thee,  O  God, 
Even  the  nations  altogether. 


Psalm  Ixvii. 


64  I.ETTKRS  OP  BKN  UZIKL. 

That  the  nations  rejoice  and  be  glad 

When  Thou  judgest  the  people  in  righteoUvS- 

ness 
And    the    nations    Thou   guidest    on    earth. 

Selah! 
May  the  nations  acknowledge  Thee,  O  God, 
Even  the  nations  all  together, 
When  the  earth  shall  have  jdelded  its  fruit, 
God,  even  our  God  will  bless  us. 
May  God  bless  us  and  let  fear  Him 
All  the  ends  of  the  earth. ' ' 

"  Thus  speaketh  David,  son  of  Jesse,' 

Thus  speaketh  the  man,  high  exalted, 

Anointed  of  the  God  of  Jacob, 

Sweet  singer  of  Israel. 

The  spirit  of  God  spoke  in  me. 

His  word  was  on  my  tongue, 

There  spoke  to  me  the  God  of  Israel, 

To  me  spoke  Israel's  rock. 

Among  mankind  righteousness  shall  prevail. 

The  fear  of  God  shall  conquer. 

When  salvation's  morn  shall  shine, 


»  Samuel  II,  xxiii :  1-7. 


SIXTH  LETTER.  65 

Bright  as  the  sun  it  shall  flash. 
That  morn  shall  know  no  cloud, 
Radiant  with  light,  fertile  with  rain, 
Grass  shall  spring  from  the  earth. 
Is  not  thus  my  house  with  God, 
For  a  concealed  covenant  of  eternity  He  estab- 
lished unto  me. 
In  all  ordered  and  preserved. 
All  embracing  is  my  salvation. 
All  embracing  the  goal, 
Though  it  shine  not  yet  forth. 
But  the  deeds  of  violence, 
I^ike  scattered  thorns  are  they  all. 
Removed  b}^  an  unseen  hand. 
Would  one  assault  them, 
'Twould  need  sword  and  spear. 
In  fire  unseen  they  shall  be  consumed, 
Through  invisible  diredtion. ' ' 


SEVENTH  LETTER. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  passage  of  Isaiah 
you  have  comprehended  the  place  which  Israel 
should  occupy  in  the  series  of  development  of 
the  nations,  and  have  not  erred,  dear  Benja- 
min. 

While  mankind,  educated  by  experience, 
was  to  learn  to  know  God  and  itself  from  its 
manifold  vicissitudes,  the  final  goal  of  this  ex- 
perience was  to  be  made  surer  and  speedier  of 
attainment  by  a  special  ordainment.  Because 
men  had  eliminated  God  from  life,  nay,  even 
from  nature,  and  found  the  basis  of  life  in 
possessions  and  its  aim  in  enjoyment,  deeming 
life  the  produdl  of  the  multitude  of  human  de- 
sires, just  as  they  looked  upon  nature  as  the 
producfl  of  a  multitude  of  gods,  therefore,  it 
became  necessary  that  a  people  be  introduced 
into  the  ranks  of  the  nations  which  through 
its  history  and  life  should  declare  God  the 
only  creative  cause  of  existence,  fulfillment 
66 


SKVKNTH   I.KTTKR.  67 

of  His  will  the  only  aim  of  life;  and  which 
should  bear  the  revelation  of  His  will,  re- 
juvenated and  renewed  for  its  sake,  unto  all 
parts  of  the  world  as  the  motive  and  incentive 
of  its  coherence.  This  mission  required  for 
its  carrying  out  a  nation,  poor  in  everything 
upon  which  the  rest  of  mankind  reared  the 
edifice  of  its  greatness  and  its  power;  ex- 
ternally subordinate  to  the  nations  armed  with 
proud  reliance  on  self,  but  fortified  by  dire(5l 
reliance  on  God  ;  so  that  by  suppression  of 
every  opposing  force  God  might  reveal  Him- 
self diredlly  as  the  only  Creator,  Judge,  and 
Master  of  nature  and  history. 

Despite  its  political  subordination,  however, 
this  people  was  to  receive  from  the  hands  of 
its  Creator  all  the  means  of  individual  human 
and  national  prosperity,  in  order  that  it  might 
dedicate  all  its  wealth  of  resources  to  the  one 
purpose — fulfilment  of  the  Divine  will.  That 
which  universal  mankind  esteemed  weal  and 
woe  should  also  depend  on  the  fulfilment  of 
this  will,  and  thus  even  the  external  doings 
and  sufferings  of  this  people  should  be  a  means 


68  I^KTTKRS   OF   BEN  UZIEL. 

of  diredlly  inculcating  a  correcfl  understanding 
of  God  and  human  duty,  which  mankind 
would  otherwise  have  learned  indirecftly  by 
experience. 

"One  God,  Creator,  I^awgiver,  Judge, 
Guide,  Preserver,  and  Father  of  all  beings; 
all  beings  His  servants,  His  children,  man 
also  His  child  and  servant,  from  His  hand  all, 
and  this  all  to  be  used  only  for  the  fulfilment 
of  His  will,  since  this  alone  is  sufficient  for  a 
proper  attainment  of  the  purposes  of  life,  while 
all  other  human  occupations  and  pursuits  are 
but  paths  which  lead  to  the  goal  of  the  fulfil- 
ment of  the  mission  of  humanity. ' ' 

The  proclaiming  of  these  great  truths  was 
*  to  be  the  chief,  if  not  the  sole,  life-task  of  this 
people. 

It  must  needs  be  a  people  which  acknowl- 
edges "  n  "  ' '  The  Ineffable  Lord  of  Love, ' '  as 
alone  D*!!'??^  Omnipotent  Master  and  Judge, 
that  is,  which  recognizes  the  God,  who  calls 
and  trains  in  love  all  mankind  to  His  service, 
as  the  only  Founder,  Guide,  and  Lever  of  its 
thoughts,   feelings,   words,   and  deeds,  which 


SEVENTH   I^KTTER.  69 

knows  that  whatever  it  has  is  received  from 
Him,  and  which,  with  all  its  power,  lives  for 
Him  and  Him  alone. 

A  new  stone  was  to  be  laid  upon  which 
could  be  built  afresh  the  edifice  of  humanity, 
into  which  the  knowledge  of  God  and  human 
dut}^  might  flee  for  refuge  when  rejedled  and 
disowned  by  others.  It  should  be  alike  an 
example,  a  warning,  a  model,  and  an  instruc- 
tion. 

Such  a  mission  imposed  upon  it  another 
duty,  the  duty  of  separation,  of  ethical  and 
spiritual  isolation.  It  could  not  join  in  the 
doings  of  the  other  peoples  in  order  that  it 
might  not  sink  to  their  level  and  perish  in  the 
abyss  of  their  worship  of  wealth  and  pleasure. 
It  must  remain  alone  and  aloof,  must  do  its 
work  and  live  its  life  in  separation,  until,  re- 
fined and  purified  by  its  teachings  and  its  ex- 
ample, universal  humanity  might  turn  to  God 
and  acknowledge  in  Him  the  only  Creator  and 
Ruler.  That  attained,  Israel's  mission  will 
have  been  accomplished. 

' '  On  that  day  the  Lord  shall  be  one  and 


70  LETTERS  OF   BEN   UZIEI.. 

His  name  one,  for  from  Zion  will  go  forth  the 
law  and  the  word   of   the   lyord    from   Jeru- 
salem. ' ' 
' '  The  Lord  from  Sinai  came,  from  Seir  shone 

He  forth,' 
Flashed   from   Paran's   mount,    with    myriad 

holiness  came. 
At  His  right  hand — a  fiery  law  for  them. 
Verily  He  loved  the  nations. 
But  His  holy  ones  were  implements   in    thy 

hand. 
When  they  shall  follow  in  thy  footsteps, 
They,  too,  shall  utter  forth  thy  words; 
The  law,  which  Moses  commanded  unto  us. 
It  is  the  heritage  of  the  congregation  of  Jacob. ' ' 


Deuteronomy,  xxxiii  :  2-4. 


EIGHTH  LETTER. 

'  In  Abraham  there  was  chosen  as  progenitor 
of  this  people  a  man  who,  in  his  individual 
life,  already  realized  the  ideal  of  the  people 
that  was  to  be.  The  All-One,  whom  he  alone 
worshipped  amidst  the  multitude  of  idolatrous 
seekers  after  wealth  and  lust,  the  All-One 
called  and  loving  Him  alone,  Abraham  cast 
from  him  his  native  land,  his  family,  his  pa- 
rental dwelling,  and  all  which  man  loves  and 
cherishes,  and  followed  Him  who  called  him; 
he  accepted  the  mission  to  become  progenitor 
of  a  people  from  which  ' '  blessing  should  come 
to  all  the  peoples  of  the  earth  which  would 
keep  the  way  of  the  Lord,  to  do  righteousness 
and  judgment,"  and  followed  Him;  he  carried 
out  the  ideal  of  this  love  to  the  All-One  in  his 
love  to  his  children,  to  his  fellow  beings;  he 
cared  for  them,  saved  them,  instru(5led  them, 
whenever  and  wherever  he  could,  and  prayed 

1  Genesis  from  chap.  xii. 

71 


72  I.KTTKRS   OF   BKN   UZIKI.. 

for  them  to  the  Judge  of  all.  And  He,  for 
whom  he  left  all,  and  whose  call  he  had  fol- 
lowed into  a  strange  land,  He  protecfted  him 
upon  his  wanderings,  and  blessed  him,  so  that 
he  needed  to  derive  safety  and  blessing  only 
from  His  hands,  and  used  them  only  for  the 
salvation  of  the  world. 

To  this  *'n!inX,"  love,  was  joined 
*'  n^lOK,"  faith  and  trust,  firm  as  the  immov- 
able rocks,  which  beholds  life  sustained  by  the 
All-One,  and,  therefore,  holds  fast  to  His 
promises,  however  slightly  the  present  may 
seem  to  justify  their  expe(5lation,  and  ' '  nN*l\ ' ' 
that  true  fear  of  God  which  is  ready  any 
moment  to  surrender  uncomplainingly  the 
dearest  to  the  Most  High,  because  it  realizes 
that  all  man  possesses  is  but  the  free-will 
gift  of  God.  These  sentiments  of  the  .soul, 
this  conscientiously-scrupulous  and  pious  view 
of  life,  they  were  transmitted  as  an  inheri- 
tance to  Isaac,  his  son,  and  to  Jacob,  his 
grandson,  the  former  more  prominently  mani- 
festing the  qualities  of  the  attribute  of 
'^n^<'^^"   the  latter  those  of '*  H^IDK." 


EIGHTH  LETTER.  73 

* '  They  wandered  from  people  to  people,  from 
one  kingdom  to  another  nation.  He  permitted 
no  man  to  oppreSvS  them,  but  punished  on 
their  behalf  princes,  saying,  "Touch  not  my 
anointed  ones  ;  do  no  evil  unto  m}'  prophets. ' '  ' 

In  the  lives  of  these  individuals  God  revealed 
Himself  as  the  invisibly  ruling  Providence  un- 
til they  had  grown  to  a  family  of  seventy  per- 
sons. In  them  was  the  kernel  of  the  future 
nation.  But  the  people  which  grew  from  this 
kernel  was  not  spontaneously  fitted  for  its  sub- 
lime mission;  it  required  to  be  trained,  to  be 
taught  until  it  attained  the  capacity  needed  for 
its  task.  In  contrast  to  other  peoples  it  could 
find  the  proper  preparation  for  its  national 
duties  only  in  the  school  of  suffering.  It 
needed  to  be  deprived  of  all  which  constitutes 
ordinarily  the  glory  of  nations,  even  of  that 
which  makes  the  external  splendor  of  individ- 
ual men,  it  had  to  lose  all  but  morality,  relig- 
ion, and  hope,  in  order  that  it  might  receive 
all  its  life-treasures  from  Him  alone. 

Egypt,  which  at  that  time  enjoyed  the  high- 

1  Psalni  cv  :  13-15. 


74  LETTERS  OF   BEN  UZIEL. 

est  perfedlion  of  human  culture,  and  wliicli 
looked  upon  its  soil  and  its  river  as  its  gods, 
Egypt  became  the  cradle  of  misery  in  which 
Israel  passed  its  infancy  of  preparation  for  its 
sublime  mission.  As  reward  for  a  benefit  orig- 
inating from  one  of  them  (Joseph),  they  were 
invited  to  make  their  home  in  the  Nile-land, 
they  were  first  guests,  then  citizens ;  but 
Egypt,  revering  only  material  possessions, 
knew  not  the  All-One,  saw  not  in  all  human 
beings  His  children,  and  in  the  arrogance  of 
its  power  it  treacherously  disregarded  the 
rights  of  hospitality  and  humanity,  and  made 
Israel  its  slaves.  Israel  sank  to  the  lowest 
plane  of  human  existence,  though  its  numbers 
had  increased  to  the  proportions  of  a  nation, 
and  Mizraim,  once  a  host,  became  unto  it  a 
tyrant,  proud  in  its  might,  mocking  and  scorn- 
ing the  feeble  and  oppressed.  Then  appeared 
the  All-One. 

Upon  a  light  cloud  He  appeared. 
And  there  trembled  Egypt's  gods. 

He  revealed    Himself  as   only  Creator,    as 
lyord   of  nature,    though   human   hands   had 


KIGHTH  LETTER.  75 

sought  to  master  it,  as  God  of  nations,  as  Vin- 
dicator of  the  oppressed,  as  Judge  of  the  arro- 
gant. Mizraim's  greatness  sank  before  the 
majesty  of  the  people  which  found  its  all  in 
God.  This  God  spoke — and  there  sank  the 
walls  of  the  Egyptian  prison,  and  freed  from 
its  chains  the  people  marched  forth.  From 
the  hands  of  God  it  received  freedom  and  na- 
tionality, and  as  obje(5l  of  this  all,  the  revela- 
tion of  His  will  as  guidance  for  human  life,  the 
Torah.  In  Mizraim's  school,  in  the  education 
of  the  wilderness,  "H^I^DN,"  faith  and  trust 
was  to  become  the  basal  element  of  its  char- 
a(5ler;  it  was  to  acquire  that  firmness  of  devo- 
tion to  the  All-One  which  should  strengthen 
and  console  it  in  the  manifold  trials  that  were 
to  come. 

In  the  wilderness  it  received  the  Torah,  and 
thus  in  the  wilderness,  without  land  or  soil,  it 
became  a  nation.  It  became  a  body,  whose 
soul  was  the  Torah,  and,  therefore,  could  be 
truthfully  called  ''  DOHD  nD'?00,"  "  a  king- 
dom of  priests, ' '  for  as  the  priest  in  the  midst 
of  a  single  people  was  this  nation  to  be  in  the 


76  LKTTKRS  OF  BKN  UZIKL. 

midst  of  universal  mankind,  preserving  the 
law  of  God,  and  pracfticing  and  fulfilling  its 
holy  precepts.  "  l^Mp  ^1^,"  "  Holy  nation," 
was  also  to  be  its  appellation,  for,  through  the 
fulfilment  of  the  Divine  law,  it  was  to  become 
holy,  not  participating  in  the  worldly  doings 
of  other  nations,  but  preaching  the  sacredness 
of  humanity  by  the  example  of  its  life.  The 
Torah,  the  fulfilment  of  the  Divine  will,  was 
to  be  its  soil  and  country,  and  aim;  its  na- 
tional existence,  therefore,  was  neither  depend- 
ent upon,  nor  conditioned  by  transitory  things, 
but  eternal  as  the  spirit,  the  soul  and  the  word 
of  the  Eternal  One. 

It  was  to  be  a  people  in  the  midst  of  the  peo- 
ples; as  people  it  was  to  show  the  peoples  that 

'  God  is  the  Source,  and  the  Giver,  of  all  bless- 
ing; that  to  dedicate  oneself  to  the  fulfilment 
of  His  will  means  the  attainment  of  all  happi- 
ness  that   man   can   desire;    that   this   sacred 

I  resolve  is  sufficient  to  give  vStability  and  secu- 
rity to  human  existence.  It  received,  there- 
fore, the  blessings  of  a  land  and  state-power, 
not,  however,  as  end,  but  as  means  of  carry- 


EIGHTH   IvKTTKR.  77 

ing  out  the  Torah,  its  possession  and  reten- 
tion dependent,  therefore,  upon  fulfilment 
thereof  as  only  condition.  It  was  to  be  sepa- 
rate, even  in  happiness,  from  the  nations  in 
order  that  it  might  not  learn  of  them  to  revere 
well-being  and  fortune  as  the  goal  of  life, 
and,  like  them,  sink  into  the  worship  of  wealth 
and  lust. 

How  glorious  a  sight,  this  people,  if  it  suc- 
ceed in  attaining  its  ideal!  One  God,  the  All- 
One,  one  lyord  and  Father  of  them  all;  they 
all  equal  brothers,  subjedl  to  the  paternal  gov- 
ernment of  the  All-One;  the  fulfilment  of  His 
will  in  righteousness  and  love  their  only  great- 
ness, and  in  order  to  be  able  to  successfully 
accomplish  their  task,  the  Divine  blessing 
poured  out  unto  them  lavishly,  without  stint 
or  limitation. 

"  How  goodly  are  thy  tents,  O  Jacob,' 
Thy  tabernacles,  O  Israel ! 
As  brooks  they  are  stretched  forth, 
As  gardens  by  the  river, 
As  aloes,  which  the  Lord  hath  planted. 


1  Numbers  xxiv  :  5-7. 


78  LETTERS  OE   BEN  UZlElv. 

As  cedars  by  the  water; 
The  water  floweth  from  the  vessels  of  God, 
'Tis  His  seed  by  the  rushing  streams. 
Therefore   shall   His   king   be   exalted  above 

Agag, 
His  kingdom  shall  be  uplifted. 
He  saw  no  wickedness  in  Jacob, 
He  beheld  no  violence  in  Israel; 
The  Lord,  his  God,  is  with  him. 
And  trumpet  blowing,  homage  to  the  King. 
The  God,  who  led  him  forth  from  Egypt, 
Is  strength  to  him    as   the  buffalo's   mighty 

horns. 
Therefore,  no  sorcery  is  in  Jacob; 
No  wizard-art  in  Israel, 
The  time  cometh  when  shall  be  sought 
In  Jacob  and  Israel  what  God  hath  wrought. ' ' 


NINTH    LETTER. 

Only  for  a  short  time  was  Israel  able  to 
attain  its  ideal,  the  fulfilment  of  its  mission  in 
prosperity.  Even  the  first  leader  of  the  nation, 
Moses,  foretold  that  upon  God's  soil  they 
would  forget  God;  that,  led  astray  by  the  ex- 
ample of  the  other  nations,  they  would  esteem 
only  wealth  and  pleasure  worthy  of  seeking, 
and  w^ould  become  oblivious  to  their  mission. 
There  came  the  time  when,  even  in  Israel, 
the  prophet  could  lament — ''As  the  number 
of  thy  cities  were  thy  gods,  O  Judah." 
It  became  necessary  to  take  away  the  abun- 
dance of  earthl}^  good,  the  wealth  and  the  land, 
which  had  led  it  away  from  its  mission ;  it  was 
obliged  to  leave  the  happy  soil  which  had 
seduced  it  from  its  allegiance  to  the  Most  High; 
nothing  should  be  saved  except  the  soul  of 
its  existence,  the  Torah  ;  no  other  bond  of 
unity  should  henceforth  exist  except  ' '  God 
and  its  mission,"  which  are  indestrudlible, 
because  spiritual.     Through  the  annihilation 

79 


8o  i,KTT:eRS  OF  BKN  UZIKI.. 

of  Israel's  state-life  its  mission  did  not  cease, 
for  that  had  been  intended  only  as  a  means  to 
an  end.  On  the  contrary,  this  destrudlion 
itself  was  a  part  of  its  fate;  so  strangely  com- 
mingled of  divine  and  human  elements,  in 
exile  and  dispersion  its  mission  was  to  be 
resumed  in  a  different  manner.  No  other  sins 
had  been  committed  in  the  Israel-state  than 
appear  in  the  life  of  other  nations,  but  that 
which  could  be  tolerated  among  others  could 
not  be  excused  in  Israel ;  for  its  special  ofiice 
was  to  preserve  itself  pure  from  all  sin  and 
perversity,  since  ' '  H  "  was  its  God.  Destruc- 
tion and  misfortune  are  therefore  no  less  in- 
strudlive  for  Israel  than  prosperity.  The  dis- 
persion opened  a  new,  great,  and  wide-extended 
field  for  the  fulfilment  of  its  mission.  But 
before  the  great  wandering  through  the  ages 
and  the  nations  began,  God  gathered  them 
again  upon  their  home-soil,  as  a  father,  who 
is  forced  to  vSend  his  children  forth  into  the 
world,  gathers  them  together  in  his  house 
before  their  departure,  to  extend  to  them  at 
once  his  parental  blessing  and  his  fond  fare- 


NINTH   I,ETTe:r.  8 1 

well.  There,  in  their  national  home,  they 
bound  closer  to  themselves  the  Torah-bond 
which  henceforth  was  alone  to  join  them 
together.  On  the  very  eve  of  the  exile,  a 
branch  left  the  parent  tree,  which  was  obliged 
to  surrender  largely  the  charadleristics  of  the 
parent  stem,  in  order  to  bring  to  the  world, 
which  had  relapsed  into  polytheism,  violence, 
immorality,  and  inhumanity,  the  tidings  of  the 
existence  of  the  All-One  and  of  the  brother- 
hood of  man  and  his  superiority  to  the  beast, 
and  to  proclaim  the  deliverance  of  mankind 
from  the  bondage  of  wealth-and-lust  worship. 
Assisted  greatly  by  this  offshoot  in  rendering 
intelligible  to  the  world  the  obje(5ls  and  pur- 
poses of  Israel's  elecSlion,  the  nation  was 
scattered  into  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth, 
unto  all  peoples  and  all  zones,  in  order  that  in 
the  dispersion  it  might  better  fulfill  its  mission. 
"To  the  wilderness   again,"   proclaimed  the 

Prophet's  voice. 
' '  Into  the  wilderness  again  ;  prepare  there  the 

path  of  the  Lord."  ' 

1  Isaiah,  chap,  xl  :  3-5. 


82  I^KTTKRS  OF   BEN  UZIKI.. 

Make  smooth  in  evening  gloom  a  way  for  our 

God. 
When  every  valley  will  be  lifted  ;  when  hill 

and  mount  are  lowered  ; 
When  the  rough  ground  is  smoothed  ;  when 

the  ridges  are  made  even, 
Then  will  be  revealed  the  glory  of  the  I^ord, 
And  all  flesh  shall  see  that  the  mouth  of  God 

hath  spoken." 

Israel  accomplished  its  task  better  in  exile 
than  in  the  full  possession  of  good  fortune. 
Indeed,  improvement  and  corre(5lion  were  the 
chief  purposes  of  the  Galuth — exile.  With 
its  own  eyes  the  nation  saw  the  destru(5lion  of 
the  power  and  the  splendor  which  had  dazzled 
it,  and  which  it  had  begun  to  revere  as  its 
gods.  Could  it  ever  again  revere  wealth, 
power,  and  grandeur  as  the  gods  of  life? 
Without  power,  without  splendor,  without 
brilliant  show  of  human  grandeur,  it  pre- 
served its  faithfulness  toward  the  All- One  and 
the  spirit  and  the  maintenance  of  its  only  res- 
cued treasure,  the  Torah — preserved  it  alive 
amidst    suffering    and   agony,    enabled   it   to 


NINTH    LKTTKR.  83 

endure  all  the  blows  of  savage  fanaticism 
unchained. 

On  every  side  states  in  all  the  glory  of 
human  power  and  pride  disappeared  from  the 
face  of  the  earth,  while  Israel,  upheld  only  by 
its  fidelity  to  God  and  His  law,  maintained 
successfully  its  existence.  Could,  then,  Israel 
refuse  to  acknowledge  this  All-One  as  its  God, 
or  to  accept  His  Torah  as  its  only  mission  on 
earth  ? 

And,  in  very  truth,  it  proved  that  this  train- 
ing was  not  in  vain.  A  thousand  times  delu- 
sions, armed  with  material  power  and  passions 
aroused  by  these  delusions,  opened  to  Israel 
the  path  to  the  full  enjoyment  of  earthly  hap- 
piness, if  it  would,  with  but  a  single  word, 
declare  its  rejection  of  the  All-One — its  dis- 
regard of  His  Torah;  but,  as  often  as  temp- 
tation met  it,  it  would  cast  away  in  scorn 
this  easy  key,  preferring  rather  to  extend  the 
neck  to  the  blow  of  the  executioner.  It  sacri- 
ficed its  own  scanty  measure  of  happiness,  the 
most  precious  possession  of  earthly  existence, 
wives,  children,  parents,  brothers,  and  sisters, 


84  I.KTTKRS   OF   BEN   UZIKI.. 

life,  property,  and  all  the  joys  of  life.  With 
Israel's  heart-blood  is  written  on  all  the  pages 
of  history  the  dodlrine  that  there  is  but  one 
God,  and  that  there  are  higher  and  better 
things  for  mankind  than  wealth  and  pleasure. 
Its  entire  Galuth  history  is  one  vast  altar, 
i  upon  which  it  sacrificed  all  that  men  desire 
and  love  for  the  sake  of  acknowledging  God 
and  His  law.  Among  all  nations  and  in 
every  region  such  altars  have  smoked.  Did 
they  not  teach,  could  they  fail  to  teach,  a 
most  impressive  lesson?  Deeply  upon  the 
heart  of  Israel  they  impressed  the  convidlion 
that  a  more  than  human  power  was  sustaining 
them  in  their  unparalleled  tribulations.  In 
this  power  they  learned  to  worship  the  All- 
One  ;  in  faithful  devotion  to  Him,  they  recog- 
nized their  mission. 

And  now  that  these  altars  have  ceased  to 
smoke,  and  the  scattered  ones  of  Israel  are 
tolerated,  protedled,  even  accepted  as  citizens, 
how  beautiful,  nay,  how  necCvSsary  were  it  that 
they  should,  in  accordance  with  the  permission 
of  the  nations,  develop  in  peace  and  quietude 


NINTH   LKTTKR.  85 

all  the  grandeur  of  the  Israel  life.  How  beauti- 
ful it  would  be  if  Israel,  obeying  the  word  of  its 
prophet,  should  attach  itself  closely  to  every 
state  which  has  accepted  its  children  in  citi- 
zenship, and  vShould  seek  to  promote  the  wel- 
fare and  the  peace  thereof. 

If  in  the  midst  of  a  world  which  reveres 
wealth  and  lust,  it  should  live  a  tranquil  life 
of  righteousness  and  love  ;  if,  while  every- 
where the  generation  is  rapidly  sinking  into 
sensuality  and  immorality,  Israel's  sons  and 
daughters  should  bloom  forth  in  the  best 
adornment  of  youth,  purity  and  innocence;  if, 
though  everywhere  the  habitations  of  men 
should  cease  to  be  the  orchards  in  which  are 
grown  human  fruit  pleasing  in  the  sight  of 
God  and  man,  every  Israelitish  house  should, 
nevertheless,  be  a  temple  of  true  faith  in  God, 
of  reverence  and  love  for  Him  ;  if,  though 
everywhere  avarice,  lust,  and  greed  should 
become  the  motives  of  human  adlions,  every 
Jew  should  still,  in  despite  thereof,  be  a  silent 
example  and  teacher  of  universal  right- 
eousness   and    universal    love — if    thus     the 


86  lktte:rs  of  bkn  uziei.. 

dispersed  of  Israel  should  show  themselves 
everywhere  on  earth  the  glorious  priests  of 
God  and  pure  humanity,  O  my  Benjamin, 
if  we  were,  if  we  would  become,  what  we 
should  be — if  our  lives  were  a  perfecfl  reflection 
of  our  law — what  a  might}^  engine  we  would 
constitute  for  propelling  mankind  to  the  final 
goal  of  all  human  education!  More  quietly,  but 
more  forcefully  and  profoundly,  would  it  effedl 
mankind  than  even  our  tragical  record  of  sor- 
rows, powerfully  though  this  latter  teaches  the 
intervention  of  providence  in  human  affairs. 

In  the  centuries  of  passion  and  scorn  our 
mission  was  but  imperfedlly  attainable,  but  the 
ages  of  mildness  and  justice,  now  begun, 
beckon  us  to  that  glorious  goal  ;  that  every 
Jew  and  every  Jewess  should  be  in  his  or  her 
own  life  a  modest  and  unassuming  priest  or 
priestess  of  God  and  true  humanity.  When 
such  an  ideal  and  such  a  mission  await  us,  can 
we  still,  my  Benjamin,  lament  our  fate? 
**  Be  pure,  O  ye  that  bear  the  weapons  of  the 

I^ord, ' 

1  Isaiah,  chap.  Hi :  ii  ;  chap.  Ivi  :  7. 


NINTH    LKTTBR.  87 

For  not  in  lightness  should  ye  go  forth, 
Nor  in  carelessness  should  ye  walk  ; 
For  He  that  walketh  before  you  is  the  Lord, 
And    He   that   guardeth   you  is   the  God   of 

Israel. 
Behold,  if  my  servant  be  but  wise, 
He  shall  be  high  and  exalted  and  very  great. 
As  many  were  amazed  at  thee, 
Saying,    "His  appearance  is   corrupted  from 

manly  semblance, 
His  likeness  from  the  children  of  men. ' ' 
So  shall  light  come  to  many  peoples, 
And  kings  shall  close  their  mouths, 
For  what  was  not  told  unto  them  they  shall  see, 
And  what  they  never  heard  they  shall  con- 
template. 
Wondering,    they   shall    say,     "  Who  would 

believe  our  report  ?  ' ' 
''The  arm  of  the  Lord,  upon  whom  is  it  re- 
vealed? " 
He  rises  as  a  sapling  before  him 
And  as  a  root  from  arid  land. 
He  had  nor  form  nor  beauty  that  we  should 
see  him. 


88  IvKTTKRS  OF  BKN  UZIEL. 

Nor  comeliness  that  we  should  desire  him. 

He  was  despised  and  forsaken  of  men  ; 

A  man  of  sorrows,  acquainted  with  sickness. 

And  when  God  hid  His  face  from  him, 

We  despised  him  and  considered  him  not. 

Yet  '  twas  but  sickness  from  us  he  bore  ; 

Pains  we  had  inflidled  were  his  burden. 

And  we  deemed  him  plagued. 

Stricken  of  God  and  affli(5led. 

But  he,  though  stricken  through  our  sins, 

Though  crushed  through  our  iniquities. 

The  bond  of  our  peace  he  took  upon  him, 

And  in  his  congregation  was  healing  for  us.  ^ 

We  all  had  gone  astray  as  sheep  ; 

Each  one  had  turned  to  his  own  way  ; 

But  the  Lord  affli(5led  only  him — 

Smote  him  for  the  sin  of  us  all. 

He  was  oppressed,  was  harshly  persecuted, 

Silent  endured  and  opened  not  his  mouth. 

As  a  sheep  to  the  slaughter  he  was  led, 

As  a  lamb  before  the  shearers  was  he  dumb. 

Nor  opened  he  his  mouth. 

Of  kingly  rule  and  judgeship  was  he  deprived, 

I  The  Hebrew  for  "stripe  "  is  n^ian  not  n^MiT^ 
T    -;  T     ~ 


NINTH   LKTTKR.  89 

And  his  fate,  who  could  tell  it  ? 

For  he  was  cut  off  from  the  land  of  life, 

Through  the  sin  of  the  nation  came  afflidlion 

unto  him. 
The  wicked  brought  him  to  the  grave, 
The  great  and  wealthy  to  his  death, 
Though  violence  he  had  never  used 
And  deceit  was  not  in  his  mouth. 
But  the  Lord  had  willed  his  affliction  and  sick- 
ness. 
That  he  should  yield  himself  as  guilt  offering, 
(Nevertheless  destrucftion  was  not  God's  plan, 

but  that) 
He  should  see  posterity,  prolong  days. 
And  the  purpose  of  the  Lord  through  his  hand 

should  be  fulfilled. 
Through  suffering  he  should  gain  insight, 
Should  learn  to  be  content. 
And  with  this  knowledge   propagate  the  right 
And  do  My  service  unto  the  many  whose  sins 

he  bore. 
Therefore  shall  I   give  him  a  portion  among 

the  many. 
With  mighty  ones  booty  shall  he  yet  divide, 


90  I^KTTKRS  OF  BKN  UZIKI.. 

Because  he  laid  bare  to  death  his  soul, 

And  with  sinners  suffered  himself  to  be  counted, 

Whereas  he  had  borne  the  sin  of  many 

And  for  sinners  suffered  himself  to  be  stricken. ' ' 

"  Shout  gladly,  O  barren  one,  that  hath  never 

borne, 
Break  forth  in  gladsome  shouting  and  rejoice. 
Thou   that  hath   never  known  the   pains    of 

child-birth. 
For  more  are  the  children  of  the  desolate  one 
Than  of  her  that  hath  a  husband,   saith  the 

Lord. 
Make  broad  the  space  of  thy  tent. 
The  curtains  of  thy  dwellings,   let  them  ex- 
pand. 
Keep  them  not  back; 

Make  long  thy  cords,  thy  pegs  make  firm. 
For  to   the  right  and  to  the  left  shalt  thou 

spread  forth. 
Thy  seed  shall  inherit  nations. 
And  desolate  cities  they  shall  inhabit. 
Fear  not,  thou  shalt  not  be  put  to  shame. 
Be  not  abashed,  for  thou  shalt  not  grow  pale. 


NINTH   LETTER.  91 

For  the  shame  of  thy  3^outh  thou  shalt  forget, 

The  disgrace  of  th}^  widowhood  no  more  re- 
member. 

For  thy  lyord  and  thy  Creator,  ' '  Reconciler 
of  Contradidtions  ' '  is  His  name. 

And  thy  Redeemer,  the  Holy  One  of  Israel, 
God  of  the  whole  earth  is  He  called. 

For  as  a  wife  forsaken  and  sad,  the  I^ord  re- 
calls thee, 

And  as  to  the  spouse  of  youth,  once  rejected, 
does  thy  God  speak. 

For  a  short  moment  I  forsook  thee. 

But  with  great  love  I  take  thee  back. 

In  overwhelming  wrath  I  hid  my  face  a  mo- 
ment from  thee. 

But  in  everlasting  mercy  I  have  compassion 
upon  thee, 

Saith  thy  Redeemer,  the  Lord. 

For  as  Noah's  flood  is  this  unto  me  ; 

For  as  I  swore  that  Noah's  flood  should  no 
more  come  to  pass, 

Thus  have  I  sworn  no  more  to  be  wroth  with 
thee. 

No  more  o'er  thee  my  anger  hot  to  pour. 


92  I.KTTERS   OF   BEN   UZIEI<. 

Though  the  mountains  vShould  be  moved 
And  the  hills  be  shaken, 
My  mercy  from  thee  shall  not  be  moved, 
And  my  covenant  of  peace  shall  not  be  shaken, 
Saith  He  that  hath  compassion  with  thee,  the 

lyord. 
O  thou  poor,  storm-driven  one,  unconsoled. 
Behold,  in  rare  clay  shall  I  set  thy  stones. 
With  sapphires  will  I  build  thy  fundaments. 
Of  crystal  shall  I  make  thy  windows 
Of  flashing  carbuncles  thy  gates, 
And  all  thy  boundary -walls  of  precious  jewels. 
And  all  thy  children  shall  be  disciples  of  the 

Lord 
And  great  shall  be  the  peace  of  thy  children. 
Only   through   righteousness   canst    thou    be 

established  ; 
Keep  far  from  oppression,  for  thou  needst  not 

fear. 
From  terror,  for  it  will  not  come  nigh  unto 

thee 
None  shall  fear  aught  but  me,  w^ho,  therefore, 

among  thee 
Could  fear  that  aught  would  befall  thee  ? 


NINTH   LKTTKR.  93 

Verily,  I  have  created  every  artizan 

That  bloweth  in  the  fire  the  coal 

And  bringeth  forth  a  tool  for  his  work; 

I  have  created  every  destroyer 

That  begetteth  evil  and  harm. 

But  no  weapon,  formed  against  thee,  shall 
succeed. 

Every  tongue  that  riseth  'gainst  thee  in  judg- 
ment, thou  shalt  refute  ; 

This  is  the  inheritance  of  the  servants  of  the 
lyord 

And  of  those  whose  righteousness  is  from  me, 
saith  the  lyord. 

All  ye  that  are  thirsty,  come  to  the  water, 

Ye  that  have  no  silver,  come,  buy  and  eat ; 

Come,  buy  without  silver  and  without  price 

Wine  that  revives  and  milk  that  nourisheth. 

Why  weigh  ye  out  silver  for  that  which  is  not 
bread. 

Your  earnings  for  that  which  satisfieth  not  ? 

Hearken  unto  me  and  eat  that  which  is  good 

And  may  your  soul  be  delighted  with  fatness. 

And  I  will  make  with  you  an  eternal  covenant, 

Even  the  ever  faithful  love  of  David. 


94  I.KTTERS   OF   BKN  UZIKL. 

For,  behold,  I  gave  him  as  a  witness  to  the 

peoples, 
Communicating    and   enjoining   duty    to    the 

nations. 
Behold,   a  people,  which   thou  knowest   not, 

thou  wilt  call. 
And  nations,   that  know  thee  not,  unto  thee 

will  hasten, 
Kven  to  the  Lord  thy  God,  to  the  Holy  One 

of  Israel,  that  maketh  thee  beautiful. 
Seek  ye  the  Lord,  the  ever  present; 
Call  upon  Him,  the  ever  near. 
Let  the  passionate  forsake  his  way, 
The  man  of  violence  his  counsel, 
Let  him  return  to  the  Lord, 
He  will  have  compassion  upon  him; 
Kven  to  our  God  for  He  doth  much  forgive. 
Verily,  my  thoughts  are  not  your  thoughts 
And  your  ways  are  not  my  ways,   saith  the 

Lord. 
For  as  the  heavens  are  high  above  the  earth. 
Thus  are  my  ways  high  above  your  ways 
And  my  thoughts  above  your  thoughts. 
For  as  the  rain  and  the  snow  fall  from  heaven 


NINTH   IvKTTKR.  95 

And  return  not  thither  again 

Until  it  has  watered  and  made  it  bear 

And  caused  plants  to  spring  forth  ; 

Thus  also  my  word,  which  goeth  forth  from 
my  mouth, 

Shall  not  return  empty  unto  me 

Until  it  has  done  what  I  desired 

And  accomplished  that  for  which  I  sent  it. 

In  joy  shall  5^e  go  forth,  in  peace  return, 

Mountains  and  hills  shall  greet  you  with  joy- 
ful shouting 

And  all  the  trees  of  the  field  shall  clap  their 
hands ; 

Beneath  the  thorn-bush  the  cedar  shall  rise  ; 

Beneath  the  thistle  the  myrtle  shall  spring 
forth  ; 

Shall  remain,  as  glory  to  the  lyord, 

Reminder  of  hidden  time,  shall  nevermore  be 
uprooted. 

Thus  hath  the  Lord  said,  "Take  heed  of  jus- 
tice !  ' ' 

Practise  righteousness  ;  then  will  my  salvation 
soon  come, 

My  righteousness  then  will  soon  be  revealed. 


96  I.ETTKRS  OF  BEN  UZIKL. 

Happy  the  man  that  practises  this, 

The  son  of  Adam  that  holds  fast  to  it, 

Who  gives  heed  to  the  Sabbath  that  he  profane 
it  not. 

Gives  heed  to  his  hand  that  it  do  no  evil. 

Neither  should  the  stranger,  that  joins  him- 
self to  the  Lord, 

Say,  "  Verily,  the  Lord  will  separate  me  from 
His  people  ; ' ' 

Nor  should  the  childless  speak,  "  I  am  a  dry 
tree  !" 

For  thus  saith  the  Lord  to  the  childless  ones 
who  keep  my  Sabbaths, 

Who  choose  what  I  desire  and  hold  fast  to  my 
covenant, 

**  Verily,  I  shall  give  them  in  My  house,  within 
My  walls, 

A  place  and  a  name,  better  than  sons  and 
daughters, 

A  name  eternal,  which  shall  never  be  cut  off; 

And  the  sons  of  the  stranger,  who  join  them- 
selves to  the  Lord 

To  serve  Him,  to  love  the  name  of  the  Lord, 

Even  to  be  unto  Him  as  servants. 


NINTH   LETTER.  97 

Whosoever  gives  heed  to  the  Sabbath,  not  to 

profane  it, 
Whosoever  holdeth  fast  to  my  covenant, 
I  shall  bring  them  all  to  My  holy  mountain, 
I  shall  cause  them  all  to  rejoice  in  My  house 

of  prayer. 
Their  burnt  offerings  and  sacrifices  shall  be 

pleasing  upon  My  altar,  * 
For  My  house,  a  house  of  prayer  shall  it  be 

called  for  all  the  nations. 


TENTH  LETTER. 

My  light  and  sketchy  brush-strokes  have 
succeeded  in  reconciling  you  to  the  fate  of 
your  people  ;  nay,  more,  you  are  happy  that 
you  belong  to  this  people,  in  spite  of  its  pov- 
erty and  lowliness — even  because  of  them. 
What  a  glorious  resulting  of  our  correspond- 
ence, dear  Benjamin  !  But,  when  you  conceive 
yourself  exalted  to  the  lofty  summit  of  the 
idea  of  our  mission  and  look  upon  the  lyaw, 
which  has  as  ostensible  purpose  the  realization 
of  this  idea,  you  feel  as  though  a  yawning 
chasm  intervened  between  you  and  it.  You 
can  not  repress  a  feeling  of  sorrowing  disap- 
proval, a  sensation  of  protesting  wonderment 
when  you  think,  that  that  is  supposed  to  be 
the  will  of  God  ;  nor  do  you  see  any  real  task, 
any  ideal  work  to  which  you  are  called, 
nothing  but  praying  and  a  passively-contem- 
plative life,  and  in  addition,  unreasonable  de- 
mands   and    senseless    practices.     But    what 

98 


TENTH  I.KTTKR.  99 

would  you  say,  dear  friend,  if  I  were  to  tell 
you  that  the  excessive  pressure  of  centuries 
in  its  accumulated  weight  had  finally  only  per- 
mitted the  rescue  of  the  externals  of  the  Law, 
but  that  the  spirit  had  no  longer  found  room  ? 
What  if  I  were  to  say  that  Israel,  banished 
from  the  society  of  the  rest  of  mankind, 
estranged  from  the  world  and  its  life,  had  lost 
contadl  and  sympathy  with  the  world  and  life, 
and  no  longer  considered  them  in  comprehend- 
ing and  interpreting  the  Law,  but  deemed 
itself  fortunate  to  have  rescued  even  its,  the 
Law's,  externals?  Suppose  I  were  to  tell  you 
that  a  dull  and  prosaic  dialedlic  had  reduced 
to  merest  mummies  laws  full  to  overflowing  of 
life  and  spirit,  and  that  Israel,  concerned  and 
apprehensive  because  of  the  errors  and  evils 
which  it  had  often  seen  follow  the  efforts  of  the 
uncontrolled  intellecft,  had  driven  it  away  from 
the  Law  as  one  drives  away  a  bird  of  prey 
from  a  dearly-beloved  corpse  ?  Centuries  of 
oppression  and  misery,  which  offered  no 
opportunity  for  acftivity,  which  made  patient 
endurance   and   resignation  the    sole   duties; 


lOO  LETTERS  OF  BKN  UZIKL. 

when  only  prayer  could  give  strength,  and 
passive  contemplation  afforded  the  only  con- 
solation for  the  ills  of  life,  must  they  not  of 
necessity  depress  the  spirit  and  compel  the  de- 
velopment of  the  narrow  and  restricfted  ?  If, 
furthermore,  we  say  that  the  literary  sources 
of  Judaism,  in  which  its  spirit  is  contained, 
being  misunderstood  and  misinterpreted,  them- 
selves aided  in  corporealizing  and  disguising 
the  spirit;  that  a  perverted  intelle(5l  compre- 
hended the  institutions  which  were  designed 
and  ordained  for  the  internal  and  external 
purification  and  betterment  of  man  as  mechan- 
ical, dynamical,  or  magical  formulas  for  the 
upbuilding  of  higher  worlds,  and  that  thus 
the  observances  meant  for  the  education  of  the 
spirit  to  a  nobler  life  were  but  too  frequently 
degraded  into  mere  amuletic  or  talismanic  per- 
formances; would  you  not  admit,  after  all 
this,  dear  Benjamin,  that  3^ou  know  only  ex- 
ternal Judaism,  only  an  unrecognized,  uncom- 
prehended,  misunderstood  Judaism,  and  even 
that  in  a  most  fragmentary  and  incomplete 
form  ? 


TENTH  LKTTKR.  loi 

Forget  whatever  you  know  of  Judaism, 
listen,  as  though  you  had  never  heard  aught 
concerning  its  teachings,  and  you  will  not  only 
be  reconciled  to  the  Law,  but  you  will  be  filled 
with  genuine  love  for  it  and  willingly  will  you 
permit  your  whole  life  to  be  an  expression  and 
manifestation  of  this  Law. 

I  shall  give  you  now  only  fundamental 
principles,  general  outlines  of  the  component 
parts  of  the  Jewish  do(5lrinal  system,  hardly 
anything  but  the  nomenclature  of  terms  and 
concepts,  and  shall  leave  both  elucidation  and 
demonstration  for  the  future.  Read  my  state- 
ments as  though  they  were  but  hypotheses, 
but  they  are  none. 

Every  opinion  which  I  shall  express  is  the 
result  of  many  years'  study  of  Ijn  \0C*  and 
t^^lD;  '  every  detail  and  every  step  finds  its 
corroboration  in  the  Gemara,  if  this  latter  be 
but  comprehended  according  to  the  true  mean- 
ing of  its  words  and  if,  at  every  point,  we  put 
to  ourselves  the  questions,  ' '  What  have  I 
heard  here  ?  "      "  What  is  the  underlying  con- 

1  Bible,  Talmud,  and  Midrash. 


I02  LETTERS  OP  BEN  UZIEI.. 

cept  of  this  statement  ?  "  ' '  What  its  pur- 
pose ?  "  "  What  the  object  of  this  symboHcal 
act  ?  "  "  What  its  natural  meaning  under  the 
given  conditions  and  purpose  ? ' '  We  must, 
furthermore,  carefully  distinguish  between 
iXn^niKl'  and  ]^T\1\  and  seek  to  compre- 
hend the  former  by  comprehending  the  essence 
and  nature  of  the  thing  enjoined,  and  the  lat- 
ter by  making  clear  to  ourselves  the  steps  and 
means  required  for  the  proper  carrying  out  and 
fulfillment  of  the  Biblical  law;  nor  must  we 
omit  to  take  account  of  the  peculiarities  of 
the  original,  which,  having  been  intended  pri- 
marily for  oral  transmission  only,  and  not  to 
be  put  into  written  form,  which  was  expressly 
interdi(5led  as  a  matter  of  principle,  gives  only 
the  special  rule,  adapted  for  immediate  appli- 
cation, but  omits  the  universal,  the  spirit, 
leaving  that  for  direcft  individual  instru(5tion  or 
personal  effort  to  ascertain. 

After  what  has  been  now  explained,  I  ask 
you,  what  do  you  expecft  in  the  Torah  ?     You 


1  Biblical  ordinances. 

2  Rabbinical  ordinances. 


TENTH    LETTER.  103 

will  answer,  revelation  of  condiicft,  how  you, 
using  the  powers  and  faculties  which  are 
yours,  may  fulfill  the  will  of  God  towards  the 
beings  by  whom  you  are  surrounded  ;  in  other 
words,  how  you  may  pracftise  justice  and  love 
with  all  and  towards  all. 

Add  to  this  also  the  idea  of  the  mission  of 
Israel  as  a  people  called  not  only  to  accom- 
plish the  fulfillment  of  these  principles  in  life, 
but  also  to  preserve  and  propagate  their 
theoretic  concepts  for  its  own  education  and 
that  of  others.  Join  to  it,  furthermore,  the 
laws  and  ordinances  which  derive  their  origin 
naturally  from  the  state-life  Israel  once  led 
and  which,  in  the  absence  of  land  and  state, 
became  inapplicable,  and  you  have  the  essential 
binding  contents  of  the  Torah.  ' 

(i)ri1*1iri.  In str2ictio7is  or  doctrines.  The 
historically  revealed  ideas  concerning  God, 
the   world,  the    mission  of   humanity   and    of 


1  It  is  customary  to  divide  the  Mitzvoth  in  ntt'J?  and  ri"?, 
commands  and  prohibitions,  but  this  is  not  essential  for  our 
purpose,  for  the  same  command  may  be,  from  one  point  of 
view,  positive,   from   another,   negative.     E.  g.  plt^JfTl   X7   and 

nsiy  ]nn  lavn  or  nn?3  h^»T-\  and  ^nn  'jsk'  vh 


I04  IvKTTKRS  OF  BBN  UZIKI.. 

Israel,  not  as  mere  docftrines  of  faith  or 
science,  but  as  principles  to  be  acknowledged 
by  mind  and  heart,  and  realized  in  life.  (2) 
D^LD^t^tO.  Judgments.  Statements  of  justice 
towards  creatures  similar  and  equal  to  your- 
vSelf,  by  reason  of  this  resemblance  and  equal- 
ity, that  is,  of  justice  towards  human  beings. 
(3)  D^pH.  Arbitrary  statutes.  Statements 
of  justice  towards  subordinate  creatures  by 
reason  of  the  obedience  due  to  God  ;  that 
is,  justice  towards  the  earth,  plants,  and 
animals,  or,  if  they  have  become  assimilated 
with  your  personalit}^  towards  your  own 
body  and  soul.  (4)  Dll^tO.  Cojumajid^nents . 
Precepts  of  love  towards  all  beings  with- 
out distindlion,  purely  because  of  the  bid- 
ding of  God  and  in  consideration  of  our 
duty  as  men  and  Israelites.  (5)  n*)"!i^. 
Symbolic  observances.  Monuments  or  testi- 
monies to  truths  essential  to  the  concept  of 
the  mission  of  man  and  of  Israel.  These  tes- 
timonies are  symbolic  words  or  adlions  which 
bear  a  lesson  for  the  individual  Jew,  colledlive 
Israel,  or  mankind  in  general.      (6)  HTlDJ/, 


TENTH   LETTER.  I05 

Service  or  worship.  Exaltation  and  sandlifica- 
tion  of  the  inner  powers  by  word-or-deed 
symbols  to  the  end  that  our  conception  of 
our  task  be  rendered  clearer,  and  we  be  better 
fitted  to  fulfill  our  mission  on  earth. 

As  basal  principles  to  these  grand  divisions 
of  religion  we  have  three  concepts,  justice, 
love,  and  education. 

(i)  Justice,  that  is,  consideration  for  every 
being  as  creature  of  God,  for  all  possessions 
as  arrangements  willed  by  God,  of  all  govern- 
ments and  systems  as  ordained  by  God  and 
fulfillment  of  all  duties  towards  them  incum- 
bent upon  us. 

(2)  Love,  that  is,  kindly  acceptance  of  all 
beings  as  children  of  God,  as  brethren;  pro- 
motion of  their  welfare,  and  the  endeavor  to 
bring  them  to  the  goal  set  for  them  by  God, 
without  motive  or  benefit,  but  simply  to  fulfill 
the  Divine  will  and  command. 

(3)  Education,  that  is,  the  training  of  one- 
self and  others  to  such  work  by  taking  to 
heart  these  truths  as  life-principles,  by  hold- 
ing them  fast  and  preserving  them  for   one- 


Io6  I^KTTKRS   OF   BEN  UZIKL. 

self  and  for  others,  and  by  endeavoring  to  re- 
gain them  whenever  the  influences  of  worldly 
life  have  torn  them  from  our  possession. 

Let  us  now  go  through  them  in  detail  and 
endeavor  to  comprehend  each  in  the  light  of 
the  principles  upon  which  it  is  established. 


ELEVENTH   LETTER. 

Toroth. — Instruction  or  doctfdties. — Manifold 
are  the  lessons  which  these  important 
constituents  of  the  Divine  system  teach 
us.  They  comprise  the  instrudlions  de- 
rived from  the  historically-revealed  mani- 
festations of  Divine  truth  and  which  it  is  our 
duty  to  elevate  into  principles  of  our  life.  ' 
They  teach  us  to  know  God  in  his  unity  and 
as  summoning  us  to  comprehend  our  existence 
in  all  its  many-sidedness  and  to  unite  all  our 
powers,  abilities,  and  conditions  in  subordina- 
tion to  the  One.  -  They  teach  the  acftive 
service-duty  of  all  beings,  including  man,  who 
must  learn  to  look  upon  himself  as  one  of  the 
host  of  ministering  attendants  of  Deity  and 
willingly  join  their  ranks.  ^  His  will  in  this 
respect  is  revealed  as  unchangeable  for  all 
ages. "       Our   experience   is    to    serve   us    as 


1  Ex.  XX  :  2.     2  Deut.  vi  :  4;  iv  :  39;    Ex.  xx  :  3;   Deut  xviii  :  13; 
Deut.   xix  :  26.     ^  Deut.  iv  :  19,  20.     *  Deut.  iv  :  9;  v  :  19. 

107 


I08  I.KTTKRS  OF   BKN  UZIKI.. 

education;  '  the  fear  of  God  is  to  be  taught 
us  by  the  recognition  of  His  illimitable  great- 
ness, the  love  of  God  by  consideration  of  His 
unending  mercy  and  kindness,  unshakeable 
trust  in  Him  by  appreciation  of  His  eternal 
faithfulness.  ^ 

They  furthermore  tend  to  ennoble  thy  inner 
charadler  that  it  become  pure  and  free  of  all 
that  could  drag  thee  down  from  the  high  pin- 
nacle of  thy  holy  mission.  '  They  bid  thee 
put  aside  pride  and  desire  of  sensual  pleas- 
ure,^ to  respond  sympathetically  to  the 
sorrow  or  joy  of  all  beings,  and  to  embrace 
them  all  in  thy  love  as  children  of  thy  God." 
These  injun(5lions  are  but  the  applications  of 
the  principles  demonstrated  as  true  in  the 
revelations  given  in  the  adlions,  in  the  mighty 
deeds,  of  God.  His  commandments  are  but 
the  expressions  of  these  principles;  revealed 
as  concepts,  not  as  mere  incomprehensible  be- 
hests; whosoever  desires  truth  will  accept  them. 


1  Deut.  viii  :  2.  2  Deut.  vi  :  12,  13  ;  iv  :  40;  vi  :  16;  vii  :  19.  3  Deut. 
X  :  12-16;  I^ev.  xi  :  44,  20,  7.  «  Deut.  viii :  11;  Deut.  v  :  18.  ^Deut. 
XV  :  17;  I^ev.  xiv  :  18. 


KI.KVENTH   I.KTTKR.  lOQ 

Mishpatim.  — Judgments  or  Principles  of 
Justice. — All  these  ideal  theories  have  only 
value,  however,  if  thou  really  livest,  as 
thou  hast  gained  the  conception,  in  a  Divine 
world,  with  Divine  powers,  man-Israel.  The 
first  requisite  is.  Justice!  Respedl  every  being 
around  thee  and  all  that  is  in  thee  as  the  crea- 
tion of  thy  God;  everything  belonging  to  them 
as  given  them  by  God  or  in  accordance  with 
law  which  He  has  sancflioned.  I^eave  will- 
ingly to  each  being  that  which  it  is  justly  en- 
titled to  call  its  own.  Be  not  as  regards  aught 
a  curse.  Especially  honor  every  human  being 
as  thy  equal,  regard  him  in  his  essence,  that  is 
to  say,  in  his  invisible  personality,  in  his 
bodily  envelope  and  in  his  life.'  Extend  the 
same  regard  to  his  artificially  enlarged  body, 
his  property; '  to  the  demands  which  he  may 
be  entitled  to  make  upon  you  for  assistance 
by  grants  of  property  or  a^s  of  physical 
strength; '    in  measure   and   number;  *    in  re- 

1  Exod.xx  :  13;  Deut.  xxv  :  i;  xxvii  :  24.  T'»,Cn  sj^gv.  xix: 
II,  13;  Exod.  xxii  :  i;  I,ev.  v  :  21;  Deut.  xxiv  :  14.  CH  sj^gv. 
xxv  :  14;  Exod.  xxii  :  6,  9,  13.    O'TI    4  i^ev.  xix  :  35  ;  Deut.  xxv: 

13.  o-'^n 


no  lyETTERS  OF  BKN  UZIKL. 

compense  of  injury  to  his  person  or  posses- 
sions.' Have  regard,  also,  to  his  rightful 
claim  of  truth;  "^  of  liberty,  happiness,  and 
peace  of  mind,^  of  honor  and  undisturbed 
tranquillity."  Do  not  abuse  his  weakness  of 
heart,  mind,  or  body; '  do  not  unjustly  em- 
ploy thy  legal  power  over  him/ 

Chukkim. — Arbitrary  or  appareyitly  inex- 
plicable Statutes. — The  same  thoughtful  regard 
which  you  show  to  man,  show  as  well  to 
every  lower  being;  to  the  earth  which  bears 
and  sustains  all;  to  the  world  of  animals  and 
plants,  to  your  own  body,  to  your  own  mental 
faculties,  to  your  "  ego,"  that  which  is  most 
of  all  your  own.  It  is  the  same  justice  which 
you  owe  to  other  human  beings.  What  in  the 
case  of  the  Mishpatim  results  from  the  con- 
cept of  identical  personality,  flows  here  from 
the   fundamental  notion  of   equal  subordina- 


^Exod.  xxii  :  4,  5,  21,  33,  35;  Deut.  xxii  :  8;  Exod.  xxi:  18.  Cn 
2  Exod.  xxiii  :  7;  I,ev.  xix  :  11.  \i"T\,Vi"i<  3  Exod.  xxii  :  20;  I^ev. 
xix  :  34;  lyCv.  XXV  :  16;  I^ev.  xix  :  18.  CH  <  j^ev.  xix:  16;  Deut. 
xvii :  5.  T''  ^  I^ev.  xix  :  14;  Deut.  xxvii  :  18;  xiii :  12.  T\"ii,t2"T\,y^ 
8  Exod.  XX  :  14  ;  I,ev.  xix  :  15  ;    Exod.  xxiii :  i,  6,  8  ;  Deut.  i  :  16, 


BLKVKNTH   LETTER.  Ill 

tion  to  God,  who  defends  all  which  is  lower 
in  order  and  subjedl  to  you  against  your 
caprice  and  the  ebullitions  of  unregulated 
will.  Your  duties  towards  humanity  are  more 
intelligible  to  you  simply  because  you  have 
only  to  think  of  yourself,  your  own  views 
and  feelings,  in  order  to  recognize  and  sym- 
pathize with  the  demands  and  needs  of  your 
fellow-man.  Could  you  put  yourself  as 
thoroughly  in  the  place  of  other  beings,  could 
you  even  understand  the  conditions  of  the 
union  and  the  combined  a(5livity  of  your  own 
body  and  soul,  you  would  find  it  as  easy  to 
comprehend  Chukkim  as  Mishpatim.  They 
ask  of  you  to  regard  all  beings  as  God's  pos- 
sessions; destroy  none;  abuse  none;  waste 
nothing;  employ  all  things  wisely; '  the  kinds 
and  species  of  plants  and  animals  are  God's 
order;  mingle  t'hem  not/  All  creatures  are 
servants  in  the  household  of  creation." 
Respedl    even    the    feelings    and    desires    of 


1  Deut.  XX  :  19;  r,ev.  xxii  :  24.  DoSo  Vti  IT'S  T"U  of  the  *T"' 
Talma  H^tt',  p.  67.  n"K  2  j^ev.  xix  :  19;  Deut.  xxii  :  9,  11. 
3  Deut.  xxii  :  6;  I,ev.  xxii  :  2S.     l"i 


112  LKTTKRS  OF  BKN  UZIEL. 

beasts.'  Respedl  the  body  of  man  even  when 
the  personaHty  has  departed/  Respect  your 
own  body  as  receptacle,  messenger  and  instru- 
ment of  the  spirit."'  I^imit  and  subdue  your 
impulses  and  animal  adlions  under  the  law  of 
God  that  they  be  used  in  a  manner  truly 
human  and  holy  for  the  upbuilding  of  the 
holy  purpose  of  the  human  race,  that  man 
sink  not  into  a  mere  beast."  Respec?t  your 
soul  in  nourishing  your  body;  give  the  latter 
only  so  much  and  such  food  as  will  permit  it 
to  be  a  pure,  obedient  messenger  of  the  world 
to  the  soul,  of  the  soul  to  the  world,  but  not 
such  as  to  produce  sluggishness  or  sensuality.^ 
Therefore  conceal  and  elevate,  do  not  esteem 
too  highly  thy  animal  part,  in  order  that  in 
the  end  all  contradidlory  dispositions  be  elim- 
inated from  you,  and  even  the  beast-like 
become  truly  human. ^  Finally,  respedl  your- 
self in  your  purest  emanation,  your  word.'' 


1  Exod.  xxiii  :  5.  ri'^N  C'Tl  2  Deut.  xvi  :  22.  ^'''  3  Gen.  ix  :  5; 
Deut.  iv  :  9.  Cn  I'^i  4  Deut.  xxiii  :  10;  I^ev.  xviii  :  4-24.  ^  j^gv. 
xi;  Deut.  xiv.      « I^ev.  xxiii :  10;  Num.  xxi  :  21.      ''  Num.  xxx  :  2. 


TWELFTH    LETTER. 

Mitzvoth. — Commandments. — The  next  re- 
quirement, which,  though  second  in  rank, 
gives  Hfe  its  completion  and  perfedlion,  is  love. 
Never  be  the  instrumentality  of  curse  or  mis- 
fortune to  yourself  or  your  neighbor,  but 
strive,  like  Deity,  to  do  all  your  deeds  in  love, 
and  thus  become  a  blessing  to  yourself  and 
your  surroundings.^  First  become  a  blessing 
to  yourself  in  order  that  you  may  become  it 
to  others.  Seek  to  equip  yourself  with  all 
the  capacities  and  means  which  can  be  of  good 
service  to  the  welfare  of  your  fellow  beings; 
make  yourself  rich  with  abundant  store  of 
good  and  noble  principles,  and  then  devote 
yourself  to  the  world  for  perfecft  service  of 
blessing.  To  become  the  means  of  blessing, 
learn  first  to  honor  your  parents  as  messengers 
of  God,  mankind,  and  Israel  to  you;  ^  learn 


1  Deut.  xxviii  :  9;  xiii  :  4.     2  pixod.  xx  :  12;  Deut.  v  :  16;  I^ev. 
xix,  3. 


114  I.ETTERS   OF   BKN   UZIKL. 

also  to  revere  wisdom,  age,  and  virtue,  as 
guides  and  models,  wherever  and  whenever 
they  appear  realized  in  human  chara(5ler.' 
Illuminate  yourself  with  the  revealed  wisdom 
of  the  Torah,^  avoid  the  evil  and  seek  the 
good.' 

Strive  ever  to  draw  nearer  to  God,  to  be 
more  closely  united  to  Him  in  love  and  piety, 
more  devoted  and  faithful  to  thy  sacred  mis- 
sion on  earth.  Strive  also  to  make  the  earth 
a  truly  human  habitation,  its  creatures  truly 
human  possessions,  in  order  that,  in  addition 
to  your  internal  resources  you  may  acquire 
also  external  wealth  as  means  for  carrying  out 
your  mission  of  blessing,  and  in  order  to  be 
able  independently  to  establish  a  house,  as  a 
temple  in  which  shall  be  reared  young  scions 
of  Adam's  race  as  ideal  human  beings,  ideal 
Israelites.*  For  such  purpose,  to  grace  such 
a  house,  take  a  wife  and  bring  her  into  your 
home.^  Next  follows  the  first  task  of  your 
blessed   mission   of    love,    the   first    and   the 

1  lyCv.  xix  :  32,  T'^  2Deut.  v  :  i  ;  iv  :  5.  ^  Deut.  xiiirs;  xiii :  8. 
4  Genesis!  :  28;  Deut.  xxxiv  :  I     ^  Deut.  xxv  rs;  viii:  3.      T'S  PTX 


TWKI.FTH   LETTER.  II5 

highest;  to  be  all  in  all  to  helpless  human 
creatures  without  claim  or  demand  upon  you; 
even  to  sacrifice  your  own  welfare  in  order 
that  they  shall  be  able  to  attain  to  both  earthl}^ 
well-being  and  spiritual  ideal;  that  your  child 
may  become  man-Israel.' 

Your  mission,  however,  is  not  limited  by  the 
walls  of  your  house;  beyond  their  limits  you 
must  assist  with  every  particle  of  your  strength 
wherever  it  is  necessary  to  save  the  life,  the 
property,  or  the  happiness  of  a  human  being, "" 
to  assist  the  enterprise  of  a  fellow  man  with 
your  strength  or  fortune,^  or  to  help  suffering 
creatures  of  the  lower  order  *  wherever  you 
can,  by  the  use  of  your  wealth,  your  physical 
or  intelle(5lual  strength,  or  your  word,  sup- 
port the  needy,  clothe  the  naked,  feed  the 
hungry,  console  the  mourning,  heal  the  sick, 
care  for  the  unprovided,  advise  those  in  need 
of  counsel,  teach  the  ignorant,  reconcile  those 
sundered  by  anger  and  quarrel  —  in  a  word, 


1  Deut.  xxxiii  :  4;    iv:  9;    vi   :  6;    xi  :  17.      n"N,    1"^      ^L,ev.' 
xix  :  10;    Deut.  xxii  :  i.      ^  Rxod.  xxiii  :  5.      n"X  O'TI    *  Deut. 
xxii  :  4;  Exod.  xxii  :  5;  ii :  22,  24;  I^ev.  xxv  :  35.     O'TI  T'' 


Il6  LETTERS   OF   BEN   UZIEL. 

to  be  a  blessmg  whenever  and  wherever  you 
can. ' 

You  must  not  only  yourself  fulfill  these  re- 
quirements, but  see  to  it,  also,  that  the  sources 
be  preserved  from  which  you  and  your  con- 
temporaries and  posterity  ma}^  derive  en- 
lightenment and  incitement  for  such  life  and 
work —  Torah-preservatio7i.' 

Nor  should  you  remain  alone  and  isolated; 
join  yourself  to  a  community,  by  w^hicli  alone 
your  work  can  be  made  universal  and  eternal 
in  its  results;  on  the  one  hand,  the  congrega- 
tion," on  the  other,  the  state  which  harbors 
and  prote(5ls  you."  Living  thus,  you  will  con- 
tribute your  share  to  sannifying  the  Divine 
name\  you  will  become  monument  and  witness 
to  the  sway  of  God  and  the  duty  of  man; 
your  Israelitish  and  non-Israelitish  brethren 
as  well,  will  derive  enlightenment  and  courage 
from  your  example,  and  will  learn  to  serve  the 
only  God  as  their  God,  and  to  love  Him  wath 


1  Deut.  xxiii :  9,  15,  7;  l,ev.  xix  :  17;  Deut.  vi ;  18.  2  Deut.  xxxi: 
19.  n"X  *T''  3  Exod.  xviii:2i.  n"N,  T'S  D'TI  ^jeremiah 
xxix  :  5.    Lev.  xxii  :  31.  T'SiD'TI 


TWELFTH   LETTER.  uy 

all  their  hearts,  with  all  their  souls,  and  all 
their  might.  Thus  will  you  be  individually 
and  in  your  restrided  circle  what  it  is  the 
mission  of  your  people  to  be  everywhere  and 


forever. 


THIRTEENTH    LETTER. 

Kdoth.  —  Symbolic  Observances.  —  The  ac- 
knowledgment of  the  essential  principles  of 
life  in  righteousness  and  love  does  not  suffice 
to  adlually  build  up  such  a  life,  nor  is  it  even 
sufficient  for  the  accomplishment  of  your  mis- 
sion as  Israelite,  as  bearer  of  the  law  of  God 
to  man,  adlually  to  live  in  accordance  with 
those  fundamental  principles;  there  is  need, 
in  addition  thereto,  of  symbolic  words  and 
adlions  which  shall  stamp  them  indelibly  upon 
the  soul,  and  thus  preserve  them  for  you  and 
for  others.  A  truth,  in  order  to  produce  re- 
sults, must  be  impressed  upon  the  mind  and 
heart  repeatedly  and  emphatically.  This  is 
the  essential  concept  of  the  Edoth.  The 
symbols  are  chiefly  those  of  anions,  of  prac- 
tices which  serve  as  signs  of  an  idea.  Thus 
the  do(?trine  that  God  is  the  creator  and  pos- 
sessor of  all;  that  all  is  His;  man  the  admin- 

ii8 


THIRTEENTH   I^ETTER.  119 

trator  according  to  His  will,  and  Israel  the 
teacher  of  the  law  of  humanity's  mission,  is 
symbolized  in  the  commandments  ^10^,  the 
sandlity  of  the  first-born,  H'^H,  the  giving  of 
the  portion  of  dough,  Till^,  the  prohibition  of 
the  use  of  immature  fruit,  t^lfl,  the  prohibi- 
tion of  the  use  of  the  new  grain  previous  to 
the  offering  of  the  measure  of  barley,  DDt^,  the 
Sabbath,  and  in  reference  to  Israel's  holy  soil 
through  the  Sabbatical  and  Jubilee  years, 
riDDtr  '^aVI  nonn,  the  heave-offering  and 
DHIO^,  the  offering  of  the  first  ripe  fruits. 

The  do(5lrine  that  God  is  the  Redeemer  and 
Savior  of  Israel,  and  also  He  that  revealed 
His  holy  law  to  His  chosen  nation,  is  symbol- 
ized by  IID^,  the  Passover  festival,  m^^l^tJ^, 
the  Feast  of  Weeks,  TS^^O,  the  Feast  of 
Tabernacles  and  m^^  ^^^tT,  the  Eighth 
day  of  Solemn  Assembly.  That  God  is  to  us 
in  exile  what  He  was  to  our  ancestors,  is  sym- 
bolized in  n^ljn,  Hanuccah,  the  Memorial  of 
the  Re-dedication  of  the  Temple  and  in  DHI^, 
Purim,  the  Memorial  of  the  deliverance  from 
Haman.      Acknowledgment    that    the   spirit 


I20  I.KTTKRS   OF   BEN   UZIEL. 

vivifies  the  body  and  that  law  is  needful  as  a 
regulation  to  freedom  is  symbolized  in  the 
n*1^i3D,  the  counting  of  the  daj^s  between 
Passover  and  the  Feast  of  Weeks.  Con- 
sideration of  the  causes  of  the  exile  and 
warning  to  shun  the  sins  which  have  led 
thereto  are  inculcated  by  the  jnOi^n,  fast 
days.  To  keep  even  the  bod}^  and  its  organs 
pure  and  holy,  and  to  shun  all  that  leads  to 
bestiality  is  taught  by  (1'?^!D,  circumcision. 
To  dedicate  all  the  powers  of  our  mind, 
heart,  and  body  to  the  ser\dce  of  the  All-One 
is  the  lesson  of  p'^tDil,  the  Phyladleries.  Re- 
minder of  the  presence  of  the  Invincible  One 
and  of  His  revelation  in  the  past,  limitation 
and  repression  of  sensuality  as  a  weapon  for 
battle  against  evil,  are  the  purposes  of  HV^y, 
,  the  show-threads.  Consecration  of  the  Jewish 
\  home  as  a  temple  of  God,  of  the  Jewish  life 
'  therein  as  a  perpetual  service  of  God,  is  the 
aim  of  JltltO,  the  sacred  inscription  on  the  door 
posts.  Recognition  of  the  Jacob-state  in  Israel, 
that  is,  of  the  lack  of  external  might  and  in- 
dependence   as    a    requirement    of     a    truly 


THIRTEENTH   LETTER.  121 

Spiritual  conception  of  the  Israel-mission  to 
teach  the  revelation  of  God,  is  symbolized  in 
the  nVD,  bread  of  affli^on,  and  ntr^H  y^, 
prohibition  of  ^  the  sinew  of  the  hip  that  was 
lamed. 

A  wise  appreciation  and  use  of  property, 
equally  removed  from  the  two  extremes  of 
scorn  and  over-estimation,  is  taught  by  D'?1^, 
the  palm-branch  of  the  Succoth  festival,  and 
by  niDlD,  the  symbolic  booth.  As  concerns 
the  land  of  Israel,  the  same  lesson  is  taught 
by  r\)1l^^f2,  the  tithe-offering.  Finally,  that 
highest  and  most  solemn  thought  known  to 
religion,  that  God  is  the  supreme  Ruler, 
Judge,  and  Father;  that  it  is  our  duty  to 
scrutinize  our  doings  in  life  in  order  to  know 
whether  they  really  come  up  to  the  high  de- 
mands of  the  Holy  Law;  that  it  is  our  duty, 
when  necessary,  to  recognize  and  confess  our 
short-comings,  which  have  deprived  us  of  our 
claim  to  life,  and  made  us  dependent  for  exist- 
ence and  preservation  solely  upon  the  Divine 
merc}^  and  that  it  is  incumbent  upon  us  to 
strive  to  lift  ourselves  up  to  a  higher  plane  and 


122  IvE^TTERS   OF   BE^N   UZIE^t. 

a  purer  future  ;  these  sublime  and  hol}^  truths 
are  taught  by  y"')  MH,  the  New  Year  and 
Atonement-day,  by  n"1)  ^51 1^*,  by  the  .solemn 
blast  of  the  ram's-horn,  by  the  rites  of  the 
New  Month.'  These  symbolic  a(5ls  and  sea- 
vsons  all  give  expression  to  ideas,  without 
splitting  them  up  into  words  as  speech  must. 
They  come  to  the  mind  each  a  unit,  like 
thought  itself,  and  like  the  resolve  which  they 
should  beget;  they  present  themselves  with 
all  the  force  of  a  single,  undivided,  and  indi- 


'  In  giving  this  sketchy  and  superficial  account  of  the  Mitz- 
voth  (Commandments),  and  particularly  in  regard  to  the  Edoth 
and  ^46oda/i  (symbolic  practices  and  worship  ,  I  must  presup- 
pose that  the  Mitzvoth  are,  in  general,  known  to  you  from 
your  study  of  Bible  and  Talmud,  or  from  their  pradlical  ex- 
emplification in  life.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to  describe  the  Mitz- 
voth themselves.  You  will  find  difficulty  in  harmonizing  some 
of  them  with  the  concepts  given  here.  My  intention  is  only  to 
state  the  concepts  under  which  I  arrange  them  in  my  mind, 
merely  as  a  sort  of  inscription  upon  the  receptacles,  in  which 
they  are  contained,  in  order  to  arouse  in  you  the  desire  to  be- 
come more  thoroughly  acquainted  with  their  contents,  and  also 
to  give  you  data  to  settle  for  yourself  the  question,  "Is  this 
really  the  concept  of  the  Mitzvoth  ? '  ■• 

To  demonstrate  that  this  and  many  other  theories  of  mine 
are  really  correc!;  and  true,  I  reserve,  as  I  have  already  fre- 
quently mentioned,  for  a  future  work. 


THIRTEENTH   LETTER.  I 23 

visible  appeal  to  the  soul.  Therefore  they 
are  appropriate  vehicles  to  convey  the  senti- 
ments of  a  single  united  nation  pervaded  with 
one  thought,  adluated  by  one  resolve,  and  are 
intelligible  be3^ond  the  confines  of  Israelitish 
nationality.  Every  single  detail  of  a(5tion  or 
omission  in  the  ^^^///- division  of  the  Law  is 
a  writing,  a  word,  a  speech  addressed  to  the 
reverent  devotee;  they  are,  all  of  them,  re- 
minders to  the  soul  or  vivid  expressions  of 
sentiment  by  means  of  significant  a(5lion-lan- 
guage.  The  greatest  and  the  least  of  them, 
even  the  never-enough-to-be-ridiculed  prohibi-  » 
tion  of  the  use  of  an  egg  laid  on  Sabbath  or 
holiday,  symbolically  teach  a  lesson,  and  the 
stricft  attention  paid  to  so-called  trifles  is  not 
more  worthy  of  ridicule  and  not  less  sensible 
than  your  care  to  use  a  clear  and  intelligible 
language  or  a  legible  and  neat  handwTiting. 
Let  us  take,  for  instance,  the  law  of  Sabbath, 
with  its  prohibition  of  labor.  Many  of  the 
minor  details  of  what  our  Sages  technically 
call  nDN'?tD,  "labor,"  we  would  hardly  rec- 
ognize as  such,  and  yet  not  even  the  pettiest 


124  I.KTTKRS   OF   BEN   UZIKI.. 

and    most   insignificant    thereof    but   has   its 
reason  and  definite  purpose. 

The  day  upon  which  the  newly-created 
world  first  lay  extended  in  its  completeness 
before  man  that  he  might  possess  and  rule 
over  it,  this  day  was  to  be  to  him  an  eternal 
monument  of  the  great  truth  that  all  around 
him  was  the  possession  of  God,  the  Creator, 
and  that  God  it  was  who  had  conferred  upon 
him  the  power  and  the  right  to  rule  it,  in 
order  that  he  should  not  grow  overweening 
in  his  dominion  and  should  administer  his 
trust  as  the  property  of  God  and  in  accordance 
with  His  supreme  will.  In  order  to  retain  this 
idea  ever  fresh  and  vivid,  he  should  refrain  on 
this  day  from  exercising  his  human  sway  over 
the  things  of  earth,  should  not  place  his  hand 
upon  any  objedl  for  the  purpose  of  human 
dominion,  that  is,  to  employ  it  for  any  human 
end;  he  must,  as  it  were,  return  the  borrowed 
world  to  its  Divine  Owner  in  order  to  realize 
that  it  is  but  lent  to  him.  On  this  account 
the  labor  forbidden  on  the  Sabbath  is  chiefly 
r\2l^nf2  ri^N'^D,  that  is  to  say,  prodiiftive  ac- 


THIRTEENTH   I^ETTER.  1 25 

tivit}^,  executed  consciously,  with  purpose  and 
proper  means,  in  order  to  produce  a  certain  re- 
sult, an  adlion,  therefore,  which  is  the  outcome 
of  human  will  and  conscious  force,  not,  how- 
ever, '?1p'?p,  "an  action  which  produces  no 
desired  result,"  pDi^Hf^,  "purposeless  occu- 
pation," pDilD  I^^J^t^*,  "unintentional work," 
n^):!?  nOny  nr^tr,  "in  itself  unnecessary," 
1*  ^nN'?^,  "  indiredlly  performed,"  or  not 
in  1)}^l^,  "proper  measure  and  proportion." 
Do  you  not  see  that  every  moment  of  the 
Sabbath  that  you  restrain  your  hand  from 
labor  you  proclaim  God  the  only  Creator 
and  Master  and  yourself  as  his  servant  ?  Do 
you  not  see  that  even  the  slightest,  least  ardu- 
ous, produ6live  action  on  the  Sabbath  in- 
volves the  denial  of  God  as  Creator  and  I^ord, 
and  the  usurpation  on  your  part  of  the  throne 
of  God?  The  desecration  of  the  Sabbath  is 
therefore  equivalent  to  the  entire  rejedlion  and 
negation  of  the  Israel-mission.  Do  you  not 
recognize  that  the  Sabbath  is  not  a  mere  day 
of  physical  recuperation,  but  that  it  is  nH^, 
"a  covenant,"   pl^t,    "  a  sacred  memorial," 


126  I.KTTERS  OF  BKN  UZIKL. 

niN,  "  a  profoundly  instrucflive  .sign?  "  It  is 
C^TIp,  a  sacred  day  which  is  not  instituted 
solely  that  man  may  rest  after  the  labors  of 
the  week  which  is  past,  but  may  consecrate 
himself  to  the  tasks  of  the  week  which  is  to 
come. 

The  Sabbath  is  thus  an  institution  of  vast 
significance,  but  not  it  alone,  every  one  of  the 
many  ordinances  which  constitute  the  Edoth 
is  similarly  laden  with  great  and  invaluable  in- 
strucftion,  and  both  those  ordinances  deducible 
from  the  plain  word  of  Scripture,  NH^niJ^I, 
and  those  established  by  Rabbinical  interpre- 
tation, p^*)1,  are  equally  instructive  and  im- 
portant. 


FOURTEENTH   LETTER. 

The  last  division  of  the  Holy  Law,  Abodah 
(service  or  worship),  remains  for  our  con- 
sideration. 

Abodah,  the  service  of  God;  it  means  to 
turn  away  from  the  ambitions,  the  occupa- 
tions, and  the  sins  which  mainly  constitute  our 
material  existence,  and  to  strive  to  regain  the 
eternal  verities  of  the  higher  life  when  they 
have  gone  astray  from  us  in  the  deceptions, 
errors,  conflidls,  and  temptations  of  the  world. 
^^'2C^  nilDi^,  heart  service,  our  Sages  love 
to  call  true  devotion;  that  is,  to  fulfill  the  will 
of  God  towards  our  inner  parts  by  purifying 
and  ennobling  our  unseen  power,  our  char- 
acter. 

n'?5n,  prayer,  is  our  chief  form  of  serving 
the  Supreme  One  in  the  present  age,  but  the 
Hebrew  conception  of  prayer  is  not  the  mere 
request  or  petition  for  Divine  aid,  nor  even  a 
mere   ecstasy    of   devotion  and   adoration;    it 

127 


128  IvKTTKRS   OF   BKN  UZIKI.. 

means  the  possession  and  expression  of  proper 
conceptions  and  resolutions  concerning  our 
own  personality  and  our  duties  toward  God, 
the  world,  and  mankind.  In  former  days  the 
^  sacrificial  rite  was  the  expression  of  our  ser- 
vice of  God;  its  ordinances  and  ceremonies 
were  symbolic  adlions  of  profound  significance. 
The  Temple,  the  dwelling  of  the  Torah,  itself 
Israel's  most  sacred  possession,  taught  the 
lesson  that  the  Law  was  God's  gift  to  Israel 
(p")N),  and  that  for  its  fulfillment  God  had 
given  unto  man  the  power  of  body  and  mind. 
(\Ti7t^  and  n")1JD.)  The  sacrifices,  each  in- 
culcates its  individual  meaning,  the  suppres- 
sion of  sensuality,'  of  selfishness, ""  the  con- 
secration of  life,^  of  the  sentiments,"  of  one's 
entire  personality,^  to  God  for  the  fulfillment 
of  his  Law.  Some  of  them  typify  the  en- 
deavor to  consecrate  oneself  to  God  through 
the  Torah,"  others  the  effort  to  regain  lost 
purity  of  life  by  the  suppression  of  .sensuality 
and   selfishness,   equivalent  to   return   to  the 


FOURTEENTH    I^ETTER.  1 29 

lyaw;  ^  others,  again,  the  recognition  of  God 
as  the  Giver  of  the  great  good  things  of  life 
or  the  Preserver  of  our  peace  and  happi- 
ness/ This  recognition  of  the  Divine  be- 
nevolence must  be  complete,  sincere,  and 
free  from  every  material  and  sensual  thought. 
Our  gratitude  must  be  extended  to  Him  be- 
cause He  has  given  us  so  much  which  we 
can  consecrate  to  the  fulfillment  of  His  holy 
will  as  revealed  in  the  Torah.  These  sym- 
bolic acftions  were  all  accompanied  by  the 
living  word  of  fervent  devotion.  (See  Mai- 
monides  D^^On  ill^'^n,  Chap,  vi.)  The 
temple  is  sunk  into  ruins,  but  the  living 
word  of  worship  and  instrucftion  remains,  com- 
pleter even  than  in  former  times,  because  the 
symbolic  rites  of  sacrifices  must  be  represented 
also  by  it.  The  aim  of  our  worship,  ti7^r\ 
from  ^^^r\il,  is  the  purification,  enlighten- 
ment, and  uplifting  of  our  inner  selves  to  the 
recognition  of  the  Most  High  and  our  duties 
towards  Him  in  truth;  not  mere  stirring  up 
of  the  emotions,   swiftly- vanishing   devotion, 

^  DB>K  and  DNtDn  ^  D'I3^B>  and  mm 


130  I^KTTKRS  OF  BFN  UZIKL. 

empty  sentimentalism,  and  unreasoning  tears, 
but  the  cleansing  of  thought  and  heart. 

Life  robs  us  of  the  corre(5l  judgment  con- 
cerning God,  the  world,  man,  and  Israel,  and 
concerning  our  own  relation  to  them.  I^eaving 
the  disturbing  influences  of  life  and  turning 
to  God,  you  can  approach  and  find  Him  in  the 
mystic  contemplations  of  the  TefiUah.  AU 
the  various  component  parts  of  the  Hebrew 
worship  subserve  this  great  purpose,  the  bring- 
ing of  man  into  communication  with  Him 
who  is  concealed  from  view  in  his  (man's) 
daily  life,  ni/rrn,  the  psalms  or  praises;  they 
show  us  ecstatic  visions  of  God  in  nature,  the 
world  of  man  and  in  Israel.  Dl'^^n,  the 
prayers  or  devotions;  they  stir  up  our  nature 
to  its  deepest  depths  and  lift  us  up  to  com- 
munion with  the  Divine.  rHIIH,  thanks- 
givings and  n)C*'p'2,  supplications  ;  they  ex- 
press our  profound  gratitude  for  all  that  Deity 
has  wrought  and  our  full  and  unrestricfted  ac- 
knowledgment that  everything  past  or  future 
proceeds  from  His  hands,  and  our  humble 
petition   that   He   may  continue   His  bounty 


FOURTEENTH     LETTER.  I31 

unto  US,  though  we  be  unworthy.  DIJIlD, 
humble  appeals  to  His  unfailing  mercy  to  heal 
our  weaknesses  and  backslidings.  The  scien- 
tific foundation  and  basis  upon  which  all  this 
edifice  of  worship  is  raised  is  the  riNHp 
niinn,  "reading  of  the  Law,"  which  im- 
parts unto  us  the  instrudlion  and  wisdom 
which  we  require ;  its  utmost  summit  and 
goal,  the  perfe(5l  fruit  of  our  piety,  are  the 
ni^*^D,  benedidlions,  which  supply  us  the  firm 
resolution  adlively  to  promote  the  fulfillment 
of  the  Divine  will  in  the  midst  of  life,  so 
busy  with  transitory  cares  and  devoted  pre- 
eminently to  material  aims.  Retain  these 
sketchy  outlines  in  your  mind,  and  bearing 
them  in  memory  contemplate  afresh  our 
prayers,  our  service  as  a  whole,  and  see  if 
you  do  not  find  it  more  dignified,  fuller  of 
meaning  and  importance  than  you  had  ever 
before  imagined. 

'' S/ioo/s,"  that  is,  schools,  we  call  our 
houses  of  worship,  and  that  is  what  they 
should  be,  schools  for  the  grown-up,  for 
those  who   have  long  since    exchanged    the 


132  LETTERS   OF   BEN   UZIEL. 

tasks  of   the   schoolmaster   for   the   problems 
of  life. 

And  now,  my  dear  Benjamin,  a  law  which 
bids  us  recognize  God  in  the  world  and  in 
mankind,  which  teaches  that  the  fulfillment  of 
His  will  is  our  mission,  which  .shows  us  in 
Him  the  Father  of  all  beings,  of  all  men  and 
in  every  creature,  every  human  being  our 
brother;  a  law  which  makes  our  whole  life 
service  of  God  through  the  pracflice  of  right- 
eousness and  love  toward  all  beings  and  the 
proclaiming  of  these  truths  for  ourselves  and 
others;  can  this  be  a  law  which  stunts  the 
mind  and  the  heart,  limits  every  joy  of  life 
and  turns  men  into  secluded  monks  ?  Can  it 
be  that  the  study  of  this  law,  when  pursued 
earnestly  and  intelligently,  perverts  and 
deadens  the  mind,  narrows  or  restri(5ls  the  im- 
pulses of  the  heart  ? 

Its  true  description  is  found  in  the  words  of 
the  sweet  singer  of  Israel: 
' '  The  heavens  declare  themselves 
Revelation  of  God's  glory; 
The  thin  sheet  of  space  (declares) 


FOURTEENTH     I^KTTKR.  1 33 

That  it  is  His  handiwork. 

Day  proclaims  to  day 

That  God  has  spoken; 

Night  after  night  revives 

The  thoughts  of  Deity. 

No  speech  we  need, 

No  words  are  spoken, 

Without  them  the  voice  is  heard. 

Through  all  the  earth  their  voice  goes  forth, 

To  the  end  of  the  earth-world  their  words. 

In  them  He  hath  set  the  tent  of  the  sun. 

Which  it  leaves  as  a  bridegroom  his  canopy; 

It  rejoices,  as  the  Almighty,  to  run  its  course. 

And  yet  fixed  in  heaven  is  its  issue, 

Its  circuit  reaches  ever  the  same  end. 

None  are  hidden  from  his  sun. 

But  only  the  law  of  God  is  complete, 

Giving  answer  to  th'  inquiring  soul; 

The  testimony  of  God  alone  is  faithful, 

Giving  wisdom  to  th'  unlearned; 

Th'  ordinances  of  God  are  righteous, 

Giving  joy  to  the  heart; 

The  commands  of  God  are  clear, 

Giving  light  to  the  eyes; 


134  IvETTe:rs  of  bkn  uziki.. 

The  fear  of  God  is  pure. 
Existing  forever; 
The  judgments  of  God  are  true, 
They  are  right  altogether, 
Better  than  gold  and  much  ore, 
Sweeter  than  honey  and  dripping  comb. 
O,  that  Thy  servant  might  be  illumed  by  them! 
To   keep   them    is  the    great   path    of  life.'* 
(Ps.  xix.) 


FIFTEENTH  LETTER. 

You  tell  me,  my  dear  Benjamin,  that  you 
have  taken  as  your  device  the  utterance  of  the 
Psalmist,  "  O,  that  Thy  servant  might  be 
illumed  by  them,  to  keep  them  is  the  great 
path  of  life;  "  that  you  have  vowed  to  know 
no  rest  until  you  have  gained  this  inner  light; 
to  establish  not  your  house  until  you  have 
added  to  your  rich  store  of  external  goods  the 
internal  treasures  of  the  Torah,  in  order  that 
you  may  be  able  to  use  your  possessions 
worthily  and  in  accordance  with  the  will  of 
God,  and  in  order  that  your  house  be  estab- 
lished in  the  Torah-spirit  for  Israel — humanity. 

These  words  are  to  me  proof  and  guarantee 
that  I  have  not  written  in  vain. 

Do  come  to  me  in  accordance  with  your  res- 
olution; you  have  my  most  cordial  invitation, 
and  I  shall  endeavor  to  explain  to  3^ou  ver- 
bally and  in  detail  what  you  now  have  become 
acquainted  with  in  mere  sketchy  outlines.     Do 

135 


136  LETTERS   OF   BKN   UZIKL. 

not  expedl,  however,  to  find  in  me  an  infalli- 
ble master.  I  shall  confess  to  you  honestly 
whenever  I  myself  am  in  doubt  and  darkness, 
and  shall  endeavor  to  incite  you  thus  to  inde- 
pendent research.  You  wish  me  to  spare  my- 
self the  trouble  of  refuting  your  first  letter; 
you  have  examined  it  thoroughly  in  the  light 
of  your  new  knowledge  and  answered  it  your- 
self. I  am,  indeed,  overjoyed  that  you  have 
done  so.  I  have,  however,  already  prepared 
my  answer,  although  only  in  the  first  rough 
cast.  I  send  it  to  you  so  that  you  may  com- 
pare it  with  your  own  thoughts;  you  need  ex- 
pedl  nothing  more  than  fragments  of  thoughts. 
It  was  but  natural  that  you  found  Judaism  in 
contradidlion  to  your  conception  of  the  pur- 
pose of  human  existence,  inasmuch  as  your 
conception  was  one  which  Judaism  reje(5ls, 
and  against  whose  lower  elements,  desire  of 
pleasure  and  deification  of  material  possessions, 
it  wages  unceasing  warfare. 

These  lower  potencies  in  the  materialistic 
view  of  the  world  are  somewhat  refined  and 
spiritualized  by  the  higher  professors  of  that 


FIFTEENTH    I.KTTER.  137 

system,  but  are  not  essentially  altered  or  abro- 
gated. The  essential  notion  of  this  system  is 
either  that  of  the  world  without  an  acftive 
God  or  of  God  without  a  world  that  serves 
Him.  Judaism  takes  another  and  a  higher 
view,  and  predicates  even  the  highest  and  best 
as  means  only  to  that  higher  end.  Doubtless 
you  now  comprehend  our  national  misfortunes 
as  the  produdl  of  our  national  shortcomings, 
shortcomings  which  do  not,  by  any  means, 
however,  lower  us  in  point  of  righteousness 
below  the  standard  of  the  other  nations. 
Israel  never  committed  a  sin  which  the  other 
nations  of  the  world  did  not  also  commit. 
But  the  standard  applied  to  Israel  was  a  higher 
one;  what  Deity  readily  pardons  to  others  He 
would  not  forgive  to  us;  the  destrucftion  of  the 
Israel-state,  which  had  fallen  short  of  its  high 
ideals,  was  the  diredl  consequence  of  these 
universal  sins;  it  was  a  part  of  the  Divine 
administration  of  Israel's  career. 

"And  God  punished  in  him  the  sin  of  us 
all." 

Israel's  material  weakness  and  deprivation 


138  LETTERS   OF   BEN   UZIEI.. 

of  worldly  joys  and  glory  seem  to  you  now  a 
part  of  the  scheme  of  its  God-revealing  exist- 
ence; you  realize  that  the  external  humilit}^ 
of  the  nation's  lot  did  not  disturb  its  mission 
nor  diminish  its  greatness.  It  simply  ex- 
changed one  kind  of  greatness  for  another, 
and  in  dispersion  there  was  opened  to  it  a  new 
and  broader  field  for  the  fulfillment  of  its 
mission. 

And  as  for  the  Law,  is  it  really  a  preventative 
of  all  the  joys  of  life,  a  hindrance  and  an 
obstacle  to  the  gratification  of  the  natural 
human  craving  for  pleasure  ?  Examine  once 
the  precepts  and  ordinances  of  the  Law  from 
beginning  to  end  and  tell  me  what  legitimate 
desire  it  forbids  to  gratify,  what  natural  im- 
pulse it  would  destroy  or  extirpate. 

On  the  contrary,  it  purifies  and  sancftifies 
even  our  lower  impulses  and  desires  by  apply- 
ing them  with  wise  limitation  to  the  purposes 
designated  by  the  Creator. 

Righteousness  is  the  Law's  typical  end  and 
aim,  the  gratification  of  physical  lust  and  pas- 
sion is  never  its  objedl.      Therefore  are  the 


FIFTEENTH    LETTER.  139 

lower  cravings  subordinated  to  higher  law 
and  limited  by  the  Creator's  wisdom  for  His 
infinitel}^  wise  purposes ;  but  as  means  of 
attaining  proper  and  necessary  ends,  the  I^aw 
recognizes  these  desires  as  perfedlly  moral, 
pure,  and  human,  and  their  carrying  out  as 
just  and  as  legitimate  as  the  fulfillment  of 
any  other  human  task  or  mission. 

What  the  I^aw,  however,  firmly  and  un- 
yieldingly opposes  is  the  deification  of  wealth 
and  lust  as  the  sole  aim  and  controlling  im- 
pulse of  our  lives;  but  it  not  only  permits 
their  pursuit  within  the  limits  set  by  Divine 
wisdom,  but  declares  the  effort  to  gain  them  a 
duty  as  sacred  and  binding  as  any  other 
human  obligation,  and  condemns  the  purpose- 
less and  unreasonable  abstinence  from  per- 
mitted indulgences  as  sin.'  How  could  the 
reverse  of  this  be  possible  ?  Is  it  conceivable 
that  God  would  bestow  upon  man  any  power 
or  capacity  and  then,  by  utter  prohibition  of 
its  use,  legally  annihilate  it?  Highest  and 
truest  worship  is  it  to  be  "  joyous  before  the 

'n"3   and  K"'  H^i^n 


140  I^KTTKRS   OF   BKN   UZIKL. 

L,ord;  "  to  pass  one's  life  in  gladsome  light- 
ness of  spirit  because  of  the  consciousness 
that  we  live  under  the  eye  of  God  and  that 
His  protedling  hand  is  ever  outstretched  to 
guide  and  guard  us  in  every  danger  and  trial; 
to  think  and  feel,  to  speak  and  work,  to  enjoy 
and  to  endure.  Then,  through  a  higher  com- 
prehension of  them  both,  shall  we  be  reconciled 
to  suffering  and  happiness  alike,  realizing  that 
all  our  varied  experiences  belong  to  our  task, 
and  that  our  onl}^  eternal  purpose  in  life  is 
joyously  to  solve  its  problems. 

Has  this  people  furnished  no  contribution 
to  the  great  edifice  of  human  civilization  ?  I 
shall  not  ask  whether  any  of  the  other  peo- 
ples ever  consciously  did  anything  with  a  view 
to  the  furtherance  of  universal  human  happi- 
ness. I  shall  not  ask  whether  they  did  not 
all  seek  only  their  own  welfare,  nor  whether 
they  ever  performed  any  deed  of  general  value 
except  unconsciously,  as  blind  instruments  in 
the  hand  of  God;  neither  shall  I  inquire 
whether  all  was  indeed  produ6live  of  blessing, 
but   I   shall,  indeed,  challenge  the  world  to 


FIFTEENTH    I^ETTKR.  141 

deny  that  Israel,  consciously,  and  at  the  sacri- 
fice of  its  earthly  peace  and  well-being,  saved 
as  a  palladium  from  the  shipwreck  of  its  for- 
tunes the  only  thing  through  which  science, 
culture,  art,  and  inventive  skill  could  become 
the  means  of  bringing  true  blessing  and  salva- 
tion to  the  world.  Is  there  any  truer  great- 
ness for  men  than  to  be  the  bearers  of  revealed 
instru6lion  concerning  God  and  the  duty  of 
man,  and  to  show  by  example  and  life  that 
there  are  higher  things  than  wealth  and 
pleasure,  than  science  and  culture,  to  which 
these  should  be  but  subordinate  means  of  ful- 
fillment ? 

Does  not  this  law  ere(5l  a  wall  of  separation 
between  its  adherents  and  the  rest  of  man- 
kind ?  It  does,  I  admit,  but  had  it  not  done 
so  Israel  would  long  since  have  lost  all  consci- 
ousness of  its  mission,  would  long  since  have 
ceased  to  be  itself.  Do  you  not  perceive  what 
struggles  the  preservation  of  the  true  Israel- 
spirit  in  our  midst  requires,  despite  this  separa- 
tion ?  How,  then,  could  the  holy  flame  have 
been   kept  burning  in  our  breasts   had  there 


142  LETTKRS   OF   BEN  UZIKI.. 

been  no  distin(ftive  laws  and  ordinances  to  re- 
mind us  that  we  are  consecrated  to  a  sacred 
duty,  a  Divine  mission?  But  whosoever  honestly 
thinks  that  our  isolation  is  the  result  of  pride 
or  of  hostility  to  our  fellow  beings  is  the  vic- 
tim of  a  deplorable  delusion.  Is  not  God  the 
loving  Father  of  all  creatures,  of  all  human 
beings  ? 

Has  Israel  an}^  other  task  than  to  teach  all 
the  races  of  man  to  recognize  and  worship 
the  Only-One  as  their  God  ?  Is  it  not  Israel's 
unceasing  duty  to  proclaim  through  the  ex- 
ample of  its  life  and  history  Him  as  the  Uni- 
versal Lord  and  Sovereign  ?  The  Bible  terms 
Israel  n'?JlD,  "a  peculiar  treasure,"  but  this 
designation  does  not  imply,  as  some  have 
falsely  interpreted,  that  Israel  has  a  monopoly 
of  the  Divine  love  and  favor,  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, that  God  has  the  sole  and  exclusive 
claim  to  Israel's  devotions  and  service;  that 
Israel  may  not  render  Divine  homage  to  any 
other   being.'     Israel's  most   cherished   ideal 


'  n 7JID  means  a  property  belonging  exclusively  to  one  owner, 
to  which  no  other  has  any  right  or  claim.   Compare  T"B  p"2 


FIFTEENTH    LETTER.  143 

is  that  of  tlie  universal  brotherhood  of  man- 
kind. Almost  every  page  of  the  prayers  we 
utter  contains  supplication  for  the  hastening 
of  this  consummation.  We  are  all  helping  to 
rear  a  great  edifice,  Divinely  ordained  for  the 
well-being  of  man;  all  nations  that  were  or 
are  anywhere  upon  the  surface  of  the  earth, 
whether  in  the  east  or  the  west,  the  north  or 
the  south,  each  with  its  life  and  its  disappear- 
ance from  the  stage  of  history,  with  its  suc- 
cesses and  its  failures,  with  its  virtues  and  its 
vices,  its  wisdom  and  its  folly,  its  rise  and  its 
fall,  in  a  word,  with  whatsoever  it  leaves  to 
posterity  as  the  sum  total  of  the  results  and 
produ(5ls  of  its  existence. 

All  of  these  efforts  and  a(?tions  are  bricks 
contributed  to  the  edifice  of  human  history; 
all  tend  to  the  carrying  out  of  the  plan  of  the 
one,  same  God.' 

This  is  the  lesson  of  the  life  of  all  the  good 
and   virtuous   of    all   nations,    of     whosoever 


'  xan  n'^iy'?  nnS  phn  nnS  tt''  n"N  n^an  is  a  saying  of  the 

sages  which  may  be  interpreted  as  meaning  that  all  nations 
will  help  to  work  out  the  historical  destiny  of  humanity. 


144  I.KTTKRS  OP   BKN   UZIKI.. 

gave  the  example  of  unselfish  righteousness 
and  the  true  dignity  of  humanity;  this  is 
what  has  been  striven  for  by  all  whose  souls 
have  been  illumed  by  light  from  on  high  and 
who,  by  word  or  deed,  have  helped  to  lift 
their  brethren  up  to  the  All-One,  to  diffuse 
respecfl  for  justice  and  to  elevate  man  above 
the  beast;  the  same  result  is  attained  by  the 
art  of  the  Greeks  when  morally  pure  and 
devoted  to  the  refinement  of  the  mind,  and  of 
their  science,  when  sharpening  the  intellecft  to 
the  better  apprehension  of  truth;  even  the 
sword  of  the  Roman  and  the  peaceful  com- 
merce of  the  European  have  united  nations  in 
brotherhood  for  the  working  out  of  the  same 
ideals: — and  Israel  has  done  and  will  do  its 
share  of  the  glorious  task. 

Is  not  the  spirit  prostrated  and  degraded  by 
the  absolute  devotion  which  this  law  requires, 
so  that  the  observant  Jew  loses  the  courage 
and  the  strength  w^hich  free  contael  with  the 
world  and  participation  in  its  affairs  give? 
The  question  is  a  familiar  one  and  often  put, 
but  I  ask  you,   ' '  Whom  do  3^ou  respecft  more, 


FIFTKKNTH    I.ETTKR.  1 45 

who  is  really  the  stronger,  the  downtrodden 
Jew,  who  possesses  in  the  dust  of  humility 
sufficient  strength  of  mind  and  characfler  to 
pity  his  opponent  and  to  accept  the  scorn 
heaped  upon  him  as  a  trial  sent  by  God  and 
as  a  part  of  the  destiny  of  his  nation,  or  the 
ruffian,  who,  in  his  overweening  pride,  abuses 
the  weakness  of  his  fellow  man,  seems  to  con- 
sider himself  privileged  to  revile  the  feeble 
and  impotent  and  to  find  therein  his  claim  to 
greatness  ?  ' ' 

Do  not  say  thav  this  conception  of  God,  the 
world,  and  humanity  clogs  the  progress  of 
science,  and  as  for  art,  the  plastic  arts,  why, 
since  men  began  to  forget  the  All-One  and  to 
deify  His  creatures,  even  to  worship  their  own 
animal  impulses,  whose  omnipotence  they  felt, 
and  to  glorify  them  in  symbols  of  stone,  so 
that  every  god  statue  became  a  sad  memento 
of  human  degradation;  since  then,  truly, 
Judaism  interdidls  the  making  and  possession 
of  such  images,  for  to  it  truth  is  higher  and 
greater  than  art.  Certainly,  no  artist  in- 
spired with  the  true  spirit  of  Judaism  would 


146  I.KTTKRS   OF   BEN   UZlElv. 

take  the  chisel,  the  brush,  or  the  pencil  in  his 
hand  to  form  an  art-work  adapted  only  to  stir 
up  impure  imaginations  and  to  rouse  the 
animal  in  man;  for,  if  such  produdlions  of  art 
be  deemed  useful  and  proper,  then  are  morality 
and  virtue  mere  empty  words  and  not,  as  we 
conceive  them  to  be,  in  reality  the  standard 
and  the  measure  of  our  acflions. 

You  speak  of  dogmas,  dogmas  of  faith  !  In 
answer  thereto,  I  would  briefly  say  that  Juda- 
ism enjoins  six  hundred  and  thirteen  duties, 
but  knows  no  dogmas.  The  sublime  truths 
which  lie  at  its  basis,  it  reveals  as  axioms, 
clearly  intelligible  to  all  who  have  ears  to  hear 
and  minds  to  comprehend,  and  in  this  way 
opens  a  field  for  the  broadest  investigation  and 
profoundest  research  into  the  essence  and  rela- 
tions of  all  things  to  each  other;  it  rouses  us 
10  the  endeavor  to  understand  the  world,  man, 
human  history,  and  God's  plan  operating 
therein.  In  this  effort  personal  study  and 
thought,  universal  human  experience  and  the 
Torah  are  to  be  alike  utilized,  for  the  latter  is 
as  real  and  a(ftual  a  source  of  instru(5lion  as 


FIFTEENTH    LETTER.  1 47 

the  two  former.  True  speculation  does  not 
consist,  as  many  would-be  thinkers  suppose, 
in  closing  the  eye  and  the  ear  to  the  world 
round  about  us  and  in  construcfting  out  of  our 
own  inner  Ego  a  world  to  suit  ourselves;  true 
speculation  takes  nature,  man,  and  history  as 
fadls,  as  the  true  basis  of  knowledge,  and 
seeks  in  them  instrudlion  and  wisdom;  to 
these  Judaism  adds  the  Torah,  as  genuine  a 
reality  as  heaven  or  earth.  But  it  regards  no 
speculation  which  does  not  lead  to  a(5live,  pro- 
du(5live  life  as  its  ultimate  goal;  it  points  out 
the  limits  of  our  understanding  and  warns  us 
against  baseless  reasoning,  transcending  the 
legitimate  bounds  of  our  intellecftual  capacity, 
however  brilliantly  put  together  and  glitter- 
ingly  logical  it  may  appear  to  be,  for  all  such 
intellecftual  pyrotechnics  are,  after  all,  but 
puerile  sport,  useful  chiefly  to  still  the  con- 
scientious scruples  of  a  sensual^  nature, 
oblivious  alike  to  the  limitations  and  the  ideals 
of  humanity.  To  be  sure,  the  Jewish  spirit, 
in  its  most  recent  form,  was  chiefly  devoted  to 
abstra(ft  and  abstruse  speculation;  a  vivid  con- 


148  I<KTTKRS  OF  BKN  UZIEL. 

sciousness  of  the  real  world  was  lacking,  and 
therefore  the  objedl  of  study  was  not  what  it 
should  chiefly  have  been,  the  attainment  of 
knowledge  of  duty,  for  use  in  the  world  and 
in  life.  Study  became  the  end  instead  of  the 
means,  the  subje(5t  of  investigation  became  a 
matter  of  indifference,  the  dialecftic  subtleties 
thereof  the  chief  concern;  people  studied 
Judaism  but  forgot  to  search  for  its  principles 
in  the  pages  of  Scripture.  That  method  is, 
however,  not  truly  Jewish;  our  great  masters 
have  always  protested  against  it;  many  pages 
of  the  classic  works  of  Jewish  literature  are 
filled  with  the  objedlions  of  their  authors  to 
this  false  and  perverted  method.  Bible  and 
Talmud  are  to  be  studied  with  one  sole  objedl 
in  view,  to  ascertain  the  life-duties  which  they 

inculcate, ni:r;^'?niD:r'? id'?'?*)  nn'?'?,  "to 

learn  and  to  teach — to  observe  and  to  do," 
and  every  topic  treated  of  in  the  I^aw  should 
be  viewed  objedlively  or  a  comprehension 
thereof  obtained  from  science.  There  is  no 
.science  which  trains  the  mind  to  a  broader 
and  more  practical  view  of  things  than  does 


FIFTEENTH    LETTER.  1 49 

the  Torah,  pursued  in  this  manner.  That  the 
Law,  which  lays  down  Reverence,  lyOve,  and 
Faithfulness  as  its  three  foundation-stones, 
does  not  cripple  the  heart,  but  that,  when 
comprehended  and  assimilated  to  the  mind, 
its  fulfillment  becomes  a  new  power,  a  life 
from  within,  not  a  mere  barren  and  external 
dwarf  of  existence,  stimulating  all  the  facul- 
ties to  a  freer  development  and  a  more  in- 
tense use — you  have  already  demonstrated  by 
your  adhesion. 

"Chasid,"  pious  one!  a  glorious  name, 
but  misunderstood  and  deformed  through 
ignorant  or  malicious  misconception  coming  . 
from  without;  the  true  "l^DH  is  he  who  devotes 
himself  in  love  entirely  to  the  service  of  the 
Higher  Power,  who  does  not  seek  for  himself 
aught,  but  relinquishes  his  claims  upon  the 
world  in  order  that  he  may  live  more  adlively 
and  carry  out  more  thoroughly  works  of  love 
for  the  world;  he  does  not  withdraw  from  its 
midst,  but  lives  in  it,  with  it,  and  for  it.  The 
Chasid  is  for  himself,  nothing;  for  the  world, 
everything.      David,  therefore,    who   labored 


150  I.KTTKRS  OF   BEN   UZIEL. 

from  his  earliest  youth  continuously  and  ex- 
clusively for  the  internal  and  external  well- 
being  of  his  people,  and  who  left  the  repara- 
tion of  the  injury  done  him  by  Saul  and  the 
disposal  of  his  own  affairs  to  the  wisdom  of 
Deity  alone;  he,  indeed,  deserves  to  be  called 
I^Dn.  You  know  the  Rabbinical  definition 
of  the  term  "  TDH  y?^  ^'^C^l  "]'7C^  "j^tT." 
He  who  says,  "  That  which  is  thine  is  thine 
and  mine  is  also  thine,  is  a  Chasid,"  but  a 
life  of  seclusion  devoted  only  to  meditation 
and  prayer  is  not  Judaism.  Study  and  wor- 
ship are  but  paths  which  lead  to  work,  ^TO'?]! 
ntr^^D  'y^  N^DDt:*  '7ni  "Great  is 
study,  for  it  leads  to  pracftical  fulfillment  of 
the  precepts,"  is  a  saying  of  our  sages,  and 
the  flower  and  fruit  of  our  devotions  should 
be  the  resolve  to  lead  a  life  of  adlivity,  per- 
vaded with  the  spirit  of  God.  Such  a  life 
is  the  only  and  universal  goal. 

As  for  the  causes  which  produced  these 
errors  in  the  theory  and  pracftice  of  life,  we 
shall  speak  of  them,  perhaps,  on  some  later 
occasion. 


FIFTEENTH    LETTER.  151 

But  how  about  the  difficulty  of  obeying  this 
law  in  our  time — the  trouble  which  it  causes 
while  travelling,  in  intercourse  with  Gentiles, 
and  in  business  ?  I  will  admit,  for  the  sake  of 
argument,  that  all  the  complaints  which  the 
children  of  the  age  give  utterance  to  concern- 
ing the  difficulty  and  trouble  of  obeying  the 
Jewish  law  are  true.  If  our  view  of  life  is 
earnest  and  serious;  if  we  comprehend  Juda- 
ism as  the  charge  with  which  we  are  en- 
trusted, and  which  we  are  to  bear  through 
time  and  tribulation;  if  we  realize  that  it  is 
our  life-code  of  duty,  can  the  difficulty,  the 
burdensomeness  of  an  obligation  dispense  us 
from  its  fulfillment?  Should  it  not  rather 
make  the  duty  of  fulfillment  more  solemn  and 
urgent  ? 

But  let  us  examine  the  alleged  difficulties 
more  closely — from  the  standpoint  of  the  spirit 
of  Judaism — and  they  will  disappear  alto- 
gether. We  will  take  up  your  last  first — bus- 
iness. 

O!  son  of  age,  do  you  really  think  that  you 
cannot  fulfill  the  Law  because  it  commands 


152  LETTERS  OF  BEN  UZIEI.. 

youi  business  to  cease  during  one-seventh  of 
your  time,  in  order  that  you  should  thereby 
manifest  your  convi6lion  that  in  God  is  the 
source  of  your  strength  and  your  right  to  the 
possession  of  the  world;  that  from  Him  comes 
the  blessing,  and  in. order  that  you  may  conse- 
crate yourself  and  make  yourself  worthy  to 
use  His  blessings  as  sacred,  Divine  gifts  ac- 
cording to  His  desire ;  do  you  really  deem 
yourself  unable  to  obey  the  Law,  because  it 
asks  you  to  reserve  another  seventeenth  of 
your  time,  not  for  the  ordinary  tasks  of  daily 
existence,  but  to  lead  your  thoughts  again  to 
your  mission  as  an  Israelite,  and  to  strengthen 
you  to  fulfill  properly  3- our  nation's  allotted 
task  on  earth  ? 

Son  of  the  present  !  do  you  not  blush  to 
utter  such  a  complaint?  Certainly,  if  j^ou 
consider  yourself  born  only  to  possess  and  to 
enjoy;  if  the  quantity  and  extent  of  your  pos- 
sessions and  enjoyments  are  for  3^ou  the  meas- 
ure of  your  importance  ;  if  you  look  upon 
these  things,  not  as  a  means,  but  as  ends  in 
themselves;    if  you  think  that  your  business 


FIFTEENTH    LETTER.  1 53 

a(5livity  is  essentially  different  from  that  of  the 
agriculturist,  who  can  do  no  more  than  to 
place  the  seed  in  the  earth,  but  must  look  to 
the  blessing  of  God's  sun  and  God's  rain  to 
ripen  and  develop  it;  if  you  believe  that  your 
strength  and  the  power  of  your  hand  can  carry 
the  edifice  of  your  prosperity  to  its  summit; 
not  God,  but  you  alone,  and  that  all  other 
considerations  must  yield  to  this  one  ambition, 

then — then,  indeed ! 

Not  so  is  the  spirit  of  Judaism  !  If  you 
would  comprehend  the  Sabbath  and  its  beauti- 
ful, ideal  lessons;  if  you  would  realize  that  in 
and  through  it  are  given  to  you  at  once  the 
basis  of  your  earthly  task,  and  its  sublimest, 
most  spiritual  fulfillment;  that  it  proclaims 
you  a  witness  that  a  God,  that  one  God  is,  and 
that  man  is  created  for  His  service;  if,  on  the 
other  hand,  you  would  thoroughly  refle<5l  on 
all  the  insane  monstrousness  of  the  thought, 
*  *  for  the  sake  of  gain  to  desecrate  the  Sab- 
bath;" in  order  to  gain  my  daily  bread  or  to 
increase  my  wealth,  that  I  may  possess  the 
means  better  to  fulfill  my  duties  to  God,   I 


154  LETTERS   OI^   BKN   UZi:^!,. 

deny  that  there  is  a  God  to  whom  belongs  the 
world  and  the  fullness  thereof;  I  deny  that 
from  Him  come  life  and  its  blessings,  I  affirm 
that  wealth  and  the  gratification  of  desire  are 
my  only  purpose,  fulfillment  of  my  will  my 
only  objedl;  I  negate  both  God  and  the  mission 
of  humanity;  .  .  .  surely,  these  refle(5lions 
should  cause  you  to  let  fall  again  the  hand 
which  lust  for  gain  had  raised  to  desecrate 
the  Sabbath.  Yes,  if  you  would  but  contem- 
plate your  life  in  the  spirit  of  the  Sabbath, 
if  you  would  for  but  one  single  moment  com- 
prehend yourself  as  viewed  by  the  eternal 
gaze  of  God,  as  the  Sabbath  teaches  that  you 
are;  if  you  would  comprehend  yourself  as  viv- 
ified of  God,  in  a  God-filled  world,  the  totality 
of  its  life  direcfted  by  God;  if  you  would  feel 
yourself  child  and  servant  of  the  All-One;  all 
your  existence  dependent  upon  the  will  of  the 
All-Only  Father  and  Lord,  every  breath  His 
gift,  every  faculty  His  offering,  every  event  in 
your  history  His  doing;  you.  His  serv^ant, 
your  whole  life  fulfillment  of  His  command- 
ments ;  —  would    you   then   still   comprehend 


FIFTEENTH    LETTER.  1 55 

your  present  complaint?  You  would  then 
comprehend  that  your  longing  to  possess  is 
but  one  of  your  duties,  and  essentially  the 
same  as  any  of  the  others,  and  esteem  your 
possessions,  not  according  to  the  amount  of 
the  property  you  have  acquired,  but  according 
to  the  degree  of  compliance  with  the  Divine 
commandments  you  have  observed  in  accumu- 
lating it,  as  well  as  in  using  and  applying  it; 
you  would  understand  that  though  the  six 
days  bring  you  the  external  means  of  fulfilling 
your  mission,  the  seventh  alone  can  afford  you 
the  inner  means,  spiritual  power  and  consecra- 
tion, and  that  these  blessed  results  can  only 
be  attained  if  both  gain  and  disposal  be  in 
accordance  with  the  Divine  precept;  you  would 
see  that  since  God  it  is  who  has  given  you 
power  to  earn  and  blessing  in  the  accumula- 
tion, He  is  also  rich  and  strong  enough  to 
shower  upon  your  dwelling  so  much  manna  in 
six  days  that  on  the  seventh  you  would  not 
lack,  then  you  would  feel  that  you  do  not, 
because  of  that  complaint,  cease  to  be  a  Jew, 
but  that  you  must  have  ceased  to  be  a  Jew,  in 


156  I.ETTERS   OF   BEN  UZIEL. 

the  only  true  and  real  sense,  before  you  could 
utter  such  a  complaint.  "  But  how  about 
intercourse  with  non-Jews  ?  One  makes  one- 
self so  conspicuous,  is  recognized  at  once  as  a 
Jew  !  "  Son  of  the  present,  who  tells  you  to 
deny  or  conceal  the  facft  that  you  are  a  Jew  ? 
Be  a  Jew;  be  it  really  and  truly;  endeavor  to 
attain  to  the  ideal  of  the  true  Jew  in  fulfillment 
of  the  law  of  justice,  righteousness,  and  love, 
then  will  you  be  respedled,  not  in  spite  of  the 
fa(ft  that  you  are  a  Jew,  but  because  of  it  ; 
comprehend  yourself  as  Jew,  and  disseminate 
that  comprehension  by  word  and  deed  among 
your  non- Jewish  brethren,  and  j^ou  will  have 
no  occasion  to  complain  that  your  Judaism  can- 
not travel  incognito.  '  'But  one  cannot  become 
truly  intimate,  truly  sociable,  if  one  does  not, 
at  least,  eat  and  drink  with  them  at  their  ban- 
quets !  "  Again,  I  would  say,  pra(5lise  right- 
eousness and  love  as  the  Holy  I^aw  bids  you; 
be  just  in  deed,  truthful  in  word,  bear  love  in 
your  heart  for  your  non -Jewish  brethren,  as 
your  lyaw  teaches  you;  feed  his  hungry,  clothe 
his  naked,  console  his  mourners,  heal  his  vsick, 


FIFTEENTH    LETTER.  157 

counsel  his  inexperienced,  assist  him  with 
counsel  and  deed  in  need  and  sorrow,  unfold 
the  whole  noble  breadth  of  your  Israeldom, 
and  can  you  think  that  he  will  not  respedl  and 
love  you,  or  that  there  will  not  result  as  great 
a  degree  of  social  intimacy  as  your  life  can 
concede  ? 

But  you  would  have  more;  the  right  to 
enter  into  his  family  as  a  member  thereof  ! 
Do  you  not  see  that,  until  the  advent  of  the 
age  of  universal  brotherhood,  you  should  not, 
cannot,  desire  that?  Not,  however,  on  ac- 
count of  enmity  or  hostility,  but  because  of 
your  Israel-mission.  You  cannot  be  angry 
with  the  Law,  if  it  interdidls  for  you  marriage 
alliance  outside  of  Israel,  because  you  should 
rear  your  children,  the  most  precious  pledges 
of  the  Divine  love,  only  for  His  Torah,  and  it 
would  mean  to  lead  them  away  from  the 
Torah,  if  you  would  not  be  to  them  an  Israel- 
itish  father,  or  would  give  them  other  than  an 
Israelitish  mother.  You  must  be  grateful, 
therefore,  to  the  Law  that  it  seeks  to  prevent 
the  sons  of  Israel  from  amorous  attachment  to 


158  LETTERS   OF   BEN   UZIEL. 

iion-Israelitish    daughters    or    non-Israelitish 
vSons  to  the  daughters  of  Israel. 

Comprehend  the  objecft  of  3^our  life,  compre- 
hend the  Israel-duty,  and  there  will  disappear 
as  a  thin  mist  all  the  alleged  difficulty  of  up- 
holding Judaism,  felt  vSO  keenl}'  in  our  time 
only  because  the  Israel-spirit  has  vanished,  or 
because  Israel's  sons  know  not  nor  respedl 
themselves;  because  they  even,  in  part,  de- 
mand the  violation  of  the  Israel-dutj^ 


SIXTEENTH  LETTER. 

You  ask  me  for  my  opinion  on  the  question 
which  at  present  agitates  so  greatly  the  minds 
of  men,  emancipation;  whether  I  consider  it 
feasible  and  desirable,  according  to  the  spirit 
of  Judaism,  our  duty  to  strive  to  attain  it.  The 
new  conception  of  Judaism  which  you  have 
gained,  dear  Benjamin,  has  rendered  you  un- 
certain as  to  the  reconcilability  of  Gentile 
citizenship  with  the  eternal  ideals  of  our  faith. 
You  have  begun  to  doubt  whether  the  accep- 
tance of  these  new  relations  be  in  harmony 
with  the  spirit  of  Judaism,  inasmuch  as  it  ap- 
proximates to  a  close  union  with  that  which  is 
different  and  alien,  and  a  severance  of  the  ties 


1  This  letter  is  explained  through  the  circumstance  that  at 
the  time  of  its  composition  the  emancipation  of  the  Jews  was 
not  yet  an  accomplished  fact  in  most  European  states,  though 
everywhere  proposed  and  discussed.  It  is  remarkable  with 
what  accuracy  Hirsch  comprehended  the  nature  of  his  brethren 
and  how  literally  his  apprehensions  of  a  misunderstanding  of 
the  purpose  of  emancipation  by  a  great  section  of  the  Jewish 
people  have  been  fulfilled.    (The  Translator.) 

159 


l6o  I.KTTKRS   OF   BKN  UZIBI<. 

which  bind  us  to  the  Israel  lot;  3^ou  doubt  its 
desirability,  because  through  over  much  in- 
timacy with  the  Gentile,  Israel's  peculiar 
characteristics  could  easily  be  obliterated.  I 
respe(5l  your  scruples,  and  will  communicate 
to  you  my  own  opinion.  I^et  us  first  examine 
whether  it  be  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of 
Judaism. 

When  Israel  began  its  great  wandering 
through  the  ages  and  nations,  Jeremiah  pro- 
claimed the  following  as  its  duty: 

* '  Build  houses  and  dwell  therein  ; '  plant 
gardens  and  eat  the  fruit  thereof ;  take  wives 
unto  yourselves,  and  beget  sons  and  daughters, 
and  take  wives  for  your  sons  and  give  your 
daughters  in  marriage  that  they  bear  sons  and 
daughters,  and  that  you  multiply  there  and 
diminish  not.  And  seek  the  peace  of  the  city 
whither  I  have  exiled  you,  and  pray  for  it  to 
the  lyord,  for  in  its  peace  there  will  be  unto 
you  peace." 

To  be  pushed  back  and  limited  upon  the 
path  of  life  is,  therefore,  not  an  essential  con- 

1  Jeremiah  xvix  :  5-7. 


SIXTEENTH    LETTER.  l6l 

dition  of  the  Galuth,  Israel's  exile  state  among 
the  nations,  but,  on  the  contrary,  it  is  our 
duty  to  join  ourselves  as  closely  as  possible  to 
the  state  which  receives  us  into  its  midst,  to 
promote  its  welfare  and  not  to  consider  our 
well-being  as  in  any  way  separate  from  that 
of  the  state  to  which  we  belong. 

This  close  connedlion  with  all  states  is 
in  nowise  in  contradidlion  to  the  spirit  of 
Judaism,  for  the  former  independent  state  life 
of  Israel  was  not  even  then  the  essence  or  pur- 
pose of  our  national  existence,  was  only  a 
means  of  fulfilling  our  spiritual  mission. 

Land  and  soil  were  never  Israel's  bond  of 
union,  but  only  the  common  task  of  the  Torah; 
therefore,  it  still  forms  a  united  body,  though 
separated  from  a  national  soil;  nor  does  this 
unity  lose  its  reality,  though  Israel  accept 
everywhere  the  citizenship  of  the  nations 
amongst  which  it  is  dispersed.  This  co- 
herence of  sympathy,  this  spiritual  union, 
which  may  be  designated  by  the  Hebrew 
terms  DJ/  and  ^*1J1,  but  not  by  the  expres- 
sion "  nation,"  unless  we  are  able  to  separate 


1 62  LETTERS   OF   BEN   UZIEL. 

from  the  term  the  concept  of  common  terri- 
tory and  political  power,  is  the  only  com- 
munal band  we  possess,  or  ever  expecft  to 
possess,  until  the  great  day  shall  arrive  when 
the  Almighty  shall  see  fit,  in  His  inscrutable 
wisdom,  to  unite  again  His  scattered  servants 
in  one  land,  and  the  Torah  shall  be  the  guid- 
ing principle  of  a  state,  an  exemplar  of  the 
meaning  of  Divine  Revelation  and  the  mission 
of  humanity. 

For  this  future,  which  is  promised  us  in  the 
glorious  predidlions  of  the  inspired  prophets, 
whom  God  raised  up  for  our  ancestors,  we 
hope  and  pray;  but  aAively  to  accelerate  its 
coming  were  sin,  and  is  prohibited  to  us,  while 
the  entire  purpose  of  the  Messianic  age  is  that 
we  may,  in  prosperity,  exhibit  to  mankind  a 
better  example  of  ' '  Israel  ' '  than  did  our 
ancestors  the  first  time,  while,  hand  in  hand 
with  us,  the  entire  race  will  be  joined  in  uni- 
versal brotherhood  through  the  recognition  of 
God,  the  All-One. 

On  account  of  this  purely  spiritual  nature 
of  the  national  characfter  of  Israel  it  is  capable 


SIXTEENTH    LETTER.  1 63 

of  the  most  intimate  union  with  states,  with, 
perhaps,  this  difference,  that  while  others  seek 
in  the  state  only  the  material  benefits  which  it 
secures,  considering  possession  and  enjoyment 
as  the  highest  good,  Israel  can  only  regard  it  as 
a  means  of  fulfilling  the  mission  of  humanity. 
Summon  up,  I  pray  you,  before  your  mental 
vision,  the  pidlure  of  such  an  Israel,  dwelling 
in  freedom  in  the  midst  of  the  nations,  and 
striving  to  attain  unto  its  ideal,  every  son  of 
Israel  a  respedled  and  influential  exemplar 
priest  of  righteousness  and  love,  disseminat- 
ing among  the  nations  not  specific  Judaism, 
for  proselytism  is  interdicfted,  but  pure  hu- 
manity. What  a  mighty  impulse  to  progress, 
what  a  luminary  and  staff  in  the  gloomy  days 
of  the  Middle  Ages  had  not  Israel's  sin  and 
the  insanity  of  the  nations  rendered  such  a 
Galuth  impossible  !  How  impressive,  how 
sublime  it  would  have  been,  if,  in  the  midst  of 
a  race  that  adored  only  power,  possessions,  and 
enjoyment,  and  that  was  oft  blinded  by  super- 
stitious imaginings,  there  had  lived  quietly 
and  publicly  human  beings  of  a  different  sort, 


164  I.KTTERS   OF   BEN   UZlKlv. 

who  beheld  in  material  possessions  only  the 
means  of  practising  justice  and  love  towards 
all;  whose  minds,  pervaded  with  the  wisdom 
and  truth  of  the  law,  maintained  simple, 
straightforward  views,  and  emphasized  them 
for  themselves  and  others  in  expressive,  vivid 
deed-symbols. 

But  it  would  seem  as  though  Israel  was  to 
be  fitted  through  the  endurance  of  harsh  and 
cruel  exile  for  the  proper  appreciation  and 
utilization  of  its  milder  and  gentler  form. 

When  Galiith  will  be  comprehended  and 
accepted  as  it  should  be,  when  in  suffering, 
the  service  of  God  and  His  Torah  will  be 
understood  as  the  only  task  of  life,  when  even 
in  misery  God  will  be  served,  and  external 
abundance  esteemed  only  as  a  means  of  this 
service,  then,  perhaps,  Israel  will  be  read}^  for 
the  greater  temptations  of  prosperity  and  hap- 
piness in  dispersion.  Just  as  it  is  our  duty  to 
endeavor  to  obtain  those  material  possessions 
which  are  the  fundamental  condition  of  life, 
so  also  is  it  the  duty  of  every  one  to  take 
advantage  of  ever\'  alleviation  and  improve- 


SIXTEENTH    LETTER.  165 

ment  of  his  condition  open  to  him  in  a  right- 
eous way;  for,  the  more  means,  the  more 
opportunity  is  given  to  him  to  fulfill  his  mis- 
sion in  its  broadest  sense;  and  no  less  than  of 
the  individual  is  it  the  duty  of  the  community 
to  obtain  for  all  its  members  the  opportunities 
and  privileges  of  citizenship  and  liberty.  Do 
I  consider  it  desirable  ?  I  bless  emancipation, 
when  I  see  how  the  excess  of  oppression  drove 
Israel  away  from  human  intercourse,  prevented 
the  cultivation  of  the  mind,  limited  the  free 
development  of  the  noble  sides  of  character, 
and  compelled  many  individuals  to  enter,  for 
the  sake  of  self-support,  upon  paths  which, 
to  be  sure  men  filled  with  the  true  spirit  of 
Judaism  would  have  shunned  even  in  the 
extremest  necessity,  but  the  temptation  to 
enter  upon  which  they  were  too  weak  to  with- 
stand. 

I  bless  emancipation  when  I  notice  that  no 
spiritual  principle,  even  such  as  are  born  of 
superstitious  self-deception,  stands  in  its  way, 
but  only  those  passions  degrading  to  humanity, 
lust  for  gain  and  narrow  selfishness;  I  rejoice 


1 66  LETTERS   OF   BKN   UZIEL. 

when  I  perceive  that  in  this  concession  of 
emancipation,  regard  for  the  inborn  rights  of 
men  to  live  as  equals  among  equals,  and  the 
principle  that  whosoever  bears  the  seal  of  a 
child  of  God,  unto  wdiom  belongs  the  earth, 
shall  be  willingly  acknowledged  by  all  as 
brother,  are  freely  acknowledged  without 
force  or  compulsion,  but  purely  through  the 
power  of  their  inner  truth  and  demand,  as  a 
natural  consequence,  the  sacrifice  of  the  base 
passions,  love  of  self  and  gain.  I  w^elcome 
this  sacrifice,  wherever  it  is  offered,  as  the 
dawn  of  reviving  humanity  in  mankind,  as  a 
preliminary  step  to  the  universal  recognition 
of  God  as  the  only  I^ord  and  Father,  of  all 
human  beings  as  the  children  of  the  All-One, 
and  consequently  brethren,  and  of  the  earth  as 
soil  common  to  all,  and  bestowed  upon  them 
by  God  to  be  administered  in  accordance  with 
His  will.  But  for  Israel  I  only  bless  it  if  at 
the  same  time  there  aw^akes  in  Israel  the  true 
spirit,  which,  independent  of  emancipation  or 
non-emancipation,  strives  to  fulfill  the  Israel- 
mission;  to  elevate  and  ennoble  ourselves,  to 


SIXTEKNTH    LETTER.  1 67 

implant  the  spirit  of  Judaism  in  our  souls,  in 
order  that  it  may  produce  a  life  in  which  that 
spirit  shall  be  reflecfted  and  realized.  I  bless 
it,  if  Israel  does  not  regard  emancipation  as 
the  goal  of  its  task,  but  only  as  a  new  condi- 
tion of  its  mission,  and  as  a  new  trial,  much 
severer  than  the  trial  of  oppression  ;  but  I 
should  grieve  if  Israel  understood  itself  so 
little,  and  had  so  little  comprehension  of  its 
own  spirit  that  it  would  welcome  emancipation 
as  the  end  of  the  Galuth,  and  the  highest  goal 
of  its  historic  mission.  If  Israel  regards  this 
glorious  concession  merely  as  a  means  of 
securing  a  greater  degree  of  comfort  in  life, 
and  greater  opportunities  for  the  acquisition 
of  wealth  and  enjoyments,  it  would  show  that 
Israel  had  not  comprehended  the  spirit  of  its 
own  Law,  nor  learnt  aught  from  the  Galuth. 
But  sorrowfull}^  indeed,  would  I  mourn,  if 
Israel  should  so  far  forget  itself  as  to  deem 
emancipation — increased  room  for  the  acquisi- 
tion of  gain  and  pleasure  through  freedom 
from  unjust  oppression — not  too  dearly  pur- 
chased through  capricious  curtailment  of  the 


1 68  LETTERS   OF   BEN   UZIEL. 

Torah,  capricious  abandonment  of  the  chief 
element  of  our  vitality.  We  must  become 
Jews,  Jews  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word,  per- 
mitting the  spirit  of  the  Law  to  pervade  our 
entire  being,  accepting  it  as  the  fountain  of 
life  spiritual  and  ethical;  then  will  Judaism 
gladly  welcome  emancipation  as  affording  a 
greater  opportunity  for  the  fulfillment  of  its 
task,  the  realization  of  a  noble  and  ideal  life. 


SEVENTEENTH   LETTER. 

You  are  right.  The  whole  question  of 
emancipation,  which  only  concerns  our  ex- 
ternal state,  possesses  but  a  subordinate  inter- 
est for  Judaism.  Sooner  or  later  the  nations 
will  decide  what  attitude  they  should  take  in 
the  issue  between  right  and  wrong,  between 
humanity  or  inhumanity,  and  the  first  awaken- 
ing of  a  nobler  sentiment  than  the  mere  lust 
for  possession  and  enjoyment,  the  first  ex- 
pression of  a  livelier  appreciation  of  the  uni- 
versal lyordship  and  Fatherhood  of  God,  and 
of  the  earth  as  a  Holy  Land,  given  by  Him  to 
all  men  for  the  fulfillment  of  mankind's  task, 
will  speedily  take  effedl  in  the  emancipation  of 
all  the  oppressed,  and,  therefore,  also  in  that 
of  the  Jews. 

Emancipation,  like  our  external  state  alto- 
gether, is  a  matter,  religiously  speaking,  of 
secondary  consideration.  We  may,  indeed, 
take  part  in  accelerating  its  coming,  but  in 
itself  it  makes  us  neither  greater  nor  smaller. 

169 


lyo  LETTERS   OP   BEN  UZIEI.. 

There  is  another  goal  before  us,  whose  at- 
tainment depends  entirely  upon  our  own 
efforts;  it  is  the  refinement  and  ennoblement  of 
ourselves,  the  fulfillment  of  Judaism  by  Jews. 

This  leads  to  a  consideration  of  the  topic 
which  you  designate  by  the  term  ' '  Reform. ' ' 

Certainl}',  dear  Benjamin,  we  are  far  from 
being  what  we  should  be,  and  if  you  compare 
the  life  ideal,  which  the  Torah  desires  us  to 
realize,  even  according  to  the  scanty  outlines 
which  I  have  drawn  for  you  in  these  letters, 
with  our  adlual  life  as  individuals  and  as  a 
communit}^  you  will  at  once  discern  how 
numerous  are  the  steps  which  we  must  still 
make,  and  how  great  the  distance  yet  to  be 
climbed  before  we  can  reach  the  glorious  sum- 
mit of  our  aspiration  and  our  hope.  There- 
fore, may  our  motto  be — Reform  ;  let  us  strive 
with  all  our  power,  with  all  the  good  and 
noble  qualities  of  our  charadler  to  reach  this 
height  of  ideal  perfecftion — Reform. 

Its  only  objecfl,  however,  must  be  the  fulfill- 
ment of  Judaism  by  Jews  in  our  time,  fulfill- 
ment of  the  eternal  idea  in  harmony  with   the 


se:vente:e:nth  ivm'i^ER.  171 

conditions  of  the  time;  education,  progress  to 
the  Torah  height,  not,  however,  lowering  the 
Torah  to  the  level  of  the  age,  cutting  down 
the  towering  summit  to  the  sunken  grade  of 
our  life.  We  Jews  need  to  be  reformed 
through  Judaism,  newly  comprehended  by  the 
spirit  and  fulfilled  with  the  utmost  energy;  but 
merely  to  seek  greater  ease  and  comfort  in  life 
through  the  destru6tion  of  the  eternal  code  set 
up  for  all  ages  by  the  God  of  Eternity,  is  not 
and  never  can  be  Reform.  Judaism  seeks  to 
lift  us  up  to  its  height,  how  dare  we  attempt 
to  drag  it  down  to  our  level  ? 

Undoubtedly  j-ou  recognize  the  evil  defedl 
of  our  time ;  ignorance  or  false  views  of 
Judaism,  combined  with  a  tendency,  penetrat- 
ing from  the  outer  world  into  our  humble 
habitations,  to  look  upon  enjoyment  as  the 
chief  aim  of  life, 

Alas  !  how  widespread  is  ignorance,  how 
rare  the  Jew  who  know\s  himself,  his  purpose 
in  life,  and  the  meaning  of  his  history  !  Where 
are  the  sons  of  Israel  in  whose  breast  echo  the 
tones  of  the  harp  of  David  and  the  words  of 


172  I.ETTERS   OF   BEN   UZIEL. 

the  prophets,  and  whose  mind — but,  ah!  I 
should  be  silent  concerning  the  mind — com- 
prehends the  extent  of  the  Israel-duty  ?  And 
what  wrong  and  mischievous  notions  exist  con- 
cerning the  principles,  ordinances,  and  teach- 
ings of  Judaism  ?  Even  that  which  is  known 
externally  and  superficially,  how  little  is  it 
known  as  regards  its  wondrously  profound 
inner  meaning  !  For  instance,  the  Kdoth 
duties,  so  useful  and  indispensable  through 
the  lessons  they  teach,  are  looked  upon  by 
some  as  mere  mechanical  opus  operaticm,  or  as 
talismanic  jugglery  for  the  prevention  of 
physical  evils  or  the  ere(5lion  of  mystic  supra- 
mundane  worlds.  Others  again  look  upon  the 
holiest  laws  of  righteousness  as  matters  out- 
side of  Judaism,  not,  as  they  should  regard 
them,  indissolubly  interwoven  with  its  very 
fabric. 

As  for  those  highly  important  laws  of  Ju- 
daism, which  strengthen  us  to  do  battle  with 
the  sensual  lusts  of  appetite  and  passion,  of 
indulgence  and  ease,  how  little  are  they  under- 
stood, how  often  denounced  as  cruel  privation 


SEVENTEENTH   LETTER.  173 

.beyond  the  power  of  human  nature  to  endure; 
how  can  they  otherwise  than  succumb  in  this 
unequal  combat,  since  their  victory  is  gained 
by  the  spirit,  and  that  is  either  absent  or 
wofully  deficient?  This  inner  conception  is 
lacking,  comprehension  of  Judaism,  of  the 
significance  of  its  historic  mission  and  teach- 
ings, and,  therefore,  love  for  it  has  no  soil 
upon  which  to  grow.  How  extreme  the  re- 
sultant danger  is  can  be  conceived  when  we 
consider  that  this  love  is  our  only  counter- 
balance against  internal  and  external  tempta- 
tion, and  the  attainment  of  this  love  our  aim 
and  our  only  salvation.  Compare  with  this 
view  the  tendencies  of  contemporary  Reform. 
Be  wroth  with  none,  respedl  all,  for  they  all 
feel  the  shortcomings  which  exist,  all  wish  that 
which  is  good,  as  they  conceive  it;  all  desire 
sincerely  the  welfare  of  Israel,  and  if  they  have 
failed  to  recognize  the  good  and  have  erred  in 
their  comprehension  of  the  truth,  not  they  are 
chiefly  to  blame;  the  entire  past  bears  the  res- 
ponsibility together  with  them.  You  should, 
therefore,   respedl   their   intentions,    but   3^ou 


174  LETTERS  OE  BEN  UZIEt. 

may  well  mourn  and  weep  when  3'ou  examine 
the  aims  to  which  their  efforts  are  direcfted. 
Is  that  the  Reform  we  need,  to  take  a  stand- 
point outside  of  Judaism,  to  accept  a  concep- 
tion derived  from  strangers,  of  the  purposes  of 
human  life,  and  the  objecft  of  liberty,  and 
then,  in  correspondence  with  this  borrowed 
notion,  to  cut,  curtail,  and  obliterate  the 
tenets  and  ordinances  of  Judaism  ?  Is  that 
the  Reform  we  desire,  to  remain  within  Ju- 
daism, uncomprehended  Judaism,  and  to  con- 
fine one's  effort  to  modifying  the  external 
form  of  an  uncomprehended  part  of  Judaism, 
the  service,  in  accordance  with  the  demands  of 
an  age,  abounding  in  hollow  sentimentality, 
but  sadly  deficient  in  sound  reflecftion  and 
thought,  substituting  for  things  misunder- 
vStood  and  abolished  other  things  equally  un- 
comprehended; nothing  instituted  or  originated 
to  emphasize  or  perpetuate  any  true  inner 
sentiment  of  our  faith  ?  And  as  for  the  re- 
ligious education  of  the  young,  which  should 
be  the  bearer  of  all  our  hopes  for  the  future, 
how  is  it  vsituated  ? 


SKVKNTEKNTH  LETl^ER.  175 

Education,  indeed,  is  not  lacking;  our  youth 
are  made  thoroughly  capable  of  contending 
vigorously  in  the  struggle  for  bread  ;  handi- 
work, commerce,  art,  science — all  these  are 
carefully  inculcated  and  the  mind  developed, 
although  even  in  this  regard  more  attention  is 
paid  to  the  mere  strengthening  of  the  memory 
than  to  the  cultivation  of  habits  of  thought ; 
but  the  culture  of  the  heart,  the  inculcation 
of  Judaism,  its  emphatic  presentation  by  the 
school  resulting  in  its  consequent  infiltration 
through  life,  the  rearing  of  human  beings 
who  will  comprehend  themselves  as  beings 
living  in  a  Divine  world  and  endowed  with 
Divine  powers,  which  they  shall  dedicate  to 
the  fulfillment  of  the  Divine  will  ;  human 
beings  who  shall  rejoice  in  their  mission  and 
be  filled  with  fiery  love  for  the  name  "  Jew," 
which  summons  them  to  such  a  life,  to  fulfill 
the  Divine  law  amidst  perils,  sufferings,  and 
privations  ;  human  beings  who  comprehend 
the  world,  the  past  and  the  present  and  them- 
selves as  corner-stones  in  the  edifice  of  the 
future — if  we  seek  such,  we  find  a  vacuum. 


176  LETTERS  OF  BEN  UZIEL. 

Take  one  of  the  religious  books  in  your 
hand  and  what  will  you  find,  a  life-principle 
drawn  from  outside  of  Judaism,  the  thirteen 
creeds  upon  which  Judaism  perhaps  stands, 
but  of  which  it  is  not  composed,  and  a  few 
moral  principles  deduced  from  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments, the  Chukkim  and  Kdoth  not 
mentioned,  or  but  slightly,  as  the  so-called 
ceremonial  law  in  the  appendix.  It  is  all 
more  or  less  the  reflection  of  catechisms,  ori- 
ginated upon  a  different  domain,  for  totally 
different  purposes.  Among  those,  again,  who 
do  not  use  these  catechisms  we  find  taught  the 
merest  word-knowledge  of  the  Torah,  some- 
times not  even  that ;  and  as  for  the  duties, 
they  are  merely  taught  for  pradlice,  in  the 
most  superficial  manner,  but  without  the 
slightest  elucidation  or  spiritual  fervor,  to 
insure  their  comprehension  and  retention  in 
life.  Whence,  in  Heaven's  name,  shall  Jews 
come,  Jews  inspired  with  the  living  spirit  of 
the  knowledge  of  God  and  their  mission,  and 
girded  with  strength  to  do  battle  against  sen- 
suality and  error,    against   the   troubles   and 


SEVENTEENTH   LETTER.  177 

sorrows  of  time  ?  You  see — but  why  continue 
the  gloomy  pidlure?  Let  us  rejoice  that  at 
least  Israel's  youth  is  not  inferior  to  others 
in  intellecfl  and  morality,  even  though  far 
removed  from  the  ideals  of  Judaism.  Let  us 
rejoice  at  the  adlivity  within  Judaism,  even 
though  much  of  it  is  but  destrudlion  or  the 
painting  over  of  rotten  parts.  This  is  the 
pledge  of  a  better  time.  Let  us  try  to  out- 
line the  methods  for  obtaining  a  desirable 
reconstrudlion  and  a  reform  which  appears  to 
us  true. 


EIGHTEENTH    LETTER. 

The  very  essence  of  Israel's  being  rests  upon 
the  Torah  ;  in  it  is  our  basis  and  our  goal, 
from  it  the  vital  fluid  in  our  veins.  If  our 
relation  to  it,  the  law  of  life  and  truth,  be 
health}^  and  normal,  Israel  can  suffer  no  ill;  if 
sick,  Israel  cannot  be  well.  There  is  no 
evil,  no  wrongful  development  in  Judaism 
which  does  not  owe  its  origin  to  an  improper 
or  sinful  comprehension  of  the  Torah,  or  at 
least  is  perpetuated  thereby.  Our  sages  with 
profound  insight  point  to  this  as  the  true  cause 
of  the  first  national  downfall,  "  IDID  i<^C* 
n'7nn  rr^liriD,  that  they  did  not  study  the  Law 
with  the  firm  resolve  to  fulfill  it  in  life  and 
for  life  ;  life,  the  pracflical  daily  life  of  the 
world,  fled  from  the  Law,  and  the  Law 
could  not  therefore  properly  pervade  life, 
could  not  adequately  enlighten  it  and  inspire 
it  with  its,  the   Law's,   own    genial  warmth. 

If  you  search  for  the  cause  of  our  modern 

178 


EIGHTEENTH   LETTER.  1 79 

sickne.ss,  you  will  find  it  nowhere  else  than  in 
this  fatal  misconception  and  misapprehension. 
Originally  only  the  fundamental  teachings  of 
Israel's  Law  were  fixed  in  wTitten  form,  the 
so-called  written  Law,  yy^'T),  but  the 
broader  application  thereof,  in  particular  the 
spirit,  which  is  the  life,  was  to  be  preserved 
only  in  the  living  word,  the  so-called  oral  law, 
^"yt^"r\'  The  oppressions  and  afBidlions  of 
the  times  and  the  dispersion  of  Israel  threat- 
ened destruction  to  the  traditional  science ; 
the  great  and  holy  men  who  stood  at  the 
nation's  head,  yielding  to  necessity,  decreed 
that  the  Mishnah  be  written  down  as  far  as 
its  mere  external  word  was  conceived,  but 
its  spirit  w^as  still  left  to  the  traditional  ex- 
position of  the  living  word.  Increased  ex- 
ternal sorrows  demanded  more;  they  put  into 
writing  the  spirit  of  the  Mishnah  in  the 
Gemara,  but  the  spirit  of  the  Gemara  was 
still  reserved  for  oral  interpretation.  The 
afflidlion  increased,  making  further  safeguards 
necessary;  they  put  the  spirit  of  Bible  and 
Gemara  into  the  Aggadoth  or  allegorical  in- 


l8o  LETTERS   OF   BEN   UZIEL. 

terpretations,  but  disguised  and  veiled  so  tnat 
personal  research  should  still  be  required  to 
discover  the  true  spirit  of  the  traditional 
teachings  thus  perpetuated. 

In  two  academies  ^  the  Law  and  the  spirit 
sought  refuge,  but  passion  and  error  soon 
sapped  the  foundations  of  these  noble  institu- 
tions and  destroyed  them;  the  Law  went  into' 
exile,  the  letter  and  its  external  pracftical  ful- 
fillment were  saved,  but  the  spirit,  preserved 
only  in  the  symbolical  concealment  of  the  let- 
ter, disappeared.  The  spirit  could  only  be 
comprehended  by  dedu(5lion  from  the  letter 
and  the  veiling  symbol,  together  with  the 
higher  insight  which  individuals  had  pre- 
served. In  that  dark  time  there  were  not 
lacking  individuals  who  shone  forth  conspicu- 
ous through  the  true  understanding  of  the 
spirit  of  Judaism  which  they  possessed,  but 
they  were  the  exceptions;  not  all  were  endowed 
with  such  mental  elevation. 

Israel's  youth,  as  a  rule,  trained  their  minds 
in  non-Jewish  schools,  in  independent,  philo- 

•  Sura  and  Pumbaditha, 


EIGHTEENTH   LETTER .  1 8 1 

sophic  studies,  and  drew  from  Arabic  sources 
the  concepts  of  the  Greek  philosophy.  As 
the  highest  purpose  of  human  existence  they 
learned  to  consider  self-perfedlation  through 
the  knowledge  of  truth.  Their  aw^akeued 
minds  felt  themselves  in  contradicftion  to  Juda- 
ism, whose  spirit  they  did  not  comprehend; 
their  life-view  was  opposed  to  a  view  of  life 
which  la3^s  chief  est  stress  upon  the  deed,  upon 
adlion,  and  looks  upon  knowledge  only  as  a 
means  to  such  adlion.  The  age  gave  birth  to 
a  man,'  a  mind,  w^ho,  the  producft  of  uncom- 
prehended  Judaism  and  Arabic  science,  was 
obliged  to  reconcile  the  strife  which  raged  in 
his  own  breast  in  his  own  manner,  and  who, 
by  proclaiming  it  to  the  world,  became  the 
guide  of  all  in  whom  the  same  conflidt  existed. 
This  great  man,  to  whom,  and  to  whom 
alone,  we  owe  the  preservation  of  practical 
Judaism  to  our  time,  is  responsible,  because  he 
sought  to  reconcile  Judaism  with  the  difficul- 
ties which  confronted  it  from  without,  instead 
of  developing  it  creatively  from  within,  for  all 

1  Maimonides. 


1 82  LETTERS   OF   BEN  UZIEL. 

the  good  and  the  evil  which  bless  and  afflidl 
the  heritage  of  the  father.  His  peculiar  men- 
tal tendency  was  Arabic-Greek,  and  his  con- 
ception of  the  purpose  of  life  the  same.  He 
entered  into  Judaism  from  without,  bringing 
with  him  opinions  of  whose  truth  he  had  con- 
vinced himself  from  extraneous  sources  and — 
he  reconciled.  For  him,  too,  self-perfe6ling 
through  the  knowledge  of  truth  was  the  high- 
est aim,  the  prac5lical  he  deemed  subordinate. 
For  him  knowledge  of  God  was  the  end,  not 
the  means;  hence  he  devoted  his  intelle(5lual 
powers  to  speculations  upon  the  essence  of 
Deity,  and  sought  to  bind  Judaism  to  the 
results  of  his  speculative  investigations  as  to 
postulates  of  science  or  faith.  The  Mizvoth 
became  for  him  merely  ladders,  necessary  only 
to  condudl  to  knowledge  or  to  protect  against 
error,  this  latter  often  only  the  temporary  and 
limited  error  of  polytheism.  Mishpatim  be- 
came only  rules  of  prudence,  Mitzvoth  as 
well;  Chukkim  rules  of  health,  teaching  right 
feeling,  defending  against  the  transitory  errors 
of   the   time  ;   Edoth  ordinances,   desicrned  to 


EIGHTEENTH   I.ETTER.  1 83 

promote  philosophical  or  other  concepts;  all 
this  having  no  foundation  in  the  eternal  essence 
of  things,  not  resulting  from  their  eternal 
demand  on  me,  or  from  my  eternal  purpose 
and  task,  no  eternal  symbolizing  of  an  un- 
changeable idea,  and  not  inclusive  enough  to 
form  a  basis  for  the  totality  of  the  command- 
ments. 

He,  the  great  systematic  orderer  of  the  prac- 
tical results  of  the  Talmud,  gives  expression 
in  the  last  part  of  his  philosophic  work  to 
opinions  concerning  the  meaning  and  purpose 
of  the  commandments  which,  taking  the  very 
pradlical  results  codified  by  himself  as  the  con- 
tents of  the  commandments,  are  utterly  unten- 
able— cast  no  real  light  upon  them,  and  cannot 
go  hand  in  hand  with  them  in  pra(5lice,  in  life, 
and  in  science.  These  are  the  views  which 
have  been  inherited  up  to  the  present  day  by 
those  who  care  at  all  to  understand  the  spirit 
of  the  Mitzvoth.  But  since  the  precepts,  as 
pracftically  fulfilled,  stand  entirely  out  of  con- 
ne(5lion  with  these  explanations,  it  was  inevit- 
able that  their  ceremonial  fulfillment  lost  its 


1 84  I.ETTERS   OF   BEN   UZlElv. 

Spiritual  basis,  and  became  despised.  You 
see,  instead  of  taking  one's  stand  within  Juda- 
ism, and  asking,  "Inasmuch  as  Judaism  makes 
these  demands  of  me,  what  opinion  of  the  pur- 
pose of  man  must  it  have  ? ' '  instead  of  compre- 
hending each  demand  in  its  totality  according  to 
Bible  and  Talmud,  and  then  asking,  *  'What  is 
the  reason  and  idea  of  this  injundlion?  "  peo- 
ple set  up  their  standpoints  outside  of  Judaism, 
and  sought  to  draw  it  over  to  them;  they  con- 
ceived a  priori  opinions  as  to  what  the  Mitz- 
voth  might  be,  without  disturbing  themselves 
as  to  the  real  appearance  of  the  Mitzvoth  in  all 
its  parts.  What  was  the  consequence  ?  After 
these  opinions  had  brought  about  the  natural 
phenomenon  that  men  who  believed  them- 
selves the  possessors  of  the  knowledge  which 
the  commandments  were  designed  to  incul- 
cate, thought  themselves  absolved  both  from 
the  fulfillment  of  the  commandment,  intended 
only  as  a  guide,  and  from  the  study  of  the 
science  of  the  commandments,  which  had  lost 
for  them  all  intellecftual  significance  ;  other 
men,  possessed  of  a  deeper  comprehension  of 


KIGHTEKNTH   I^ETTKR.  1 85 

Judaism,  became  at  first  enemies  of  this  philo- 
sophical spirit,  and  later,  of  all  specifically  in- 
telledlual  and  philosophical  pursuits  in  general. 
Certain  misunderstood  utterances^  were  taken 
as  weapons  with  which  to  repel  all  higher 
intellecftual  interpretation  of  the  Talmud ; 
no  distin(5lion  was  made  between  the  ques- 
tion, "What  is  stated  here?"  and  the  ques- 
tion, ' '  Why  is  it  stated  ? ' '  and  not  even  the 
category  of  Edoth,  which,  according  to  its 
whole  nature,  was  designed  to  stir  the  mind 
to  a(5livity,  was  excluded  from  the  excommu- 
nication of  the  intellecftual.  Another  misun- 
derstood passage,  (Hn  "DIH  N  "I'D  fniH^iD 
ti^i7'2),  even  led  later  to  the  suppression  of 
Bible  study,  an  error  against  which  Proph- 
ecy expressly  warns  ( 1  £D  5  DHDID  "D^ 
D"'?"r?).  The  inevitable  consequence  was, 
therefore,   that  since   oppression  and  persecu- 


iFor  instance,  t3"S  ?3"K  3"n,  r"!2,  ih  iS  *T'2.  The  injunc- 
tion not  to  NIpT  Nf3J?U  p'tJ^n,  which  was  often  held  up  to  me, 
has  no  other  than  the  verj^  proper  meaning  that  we  should  not 
attach  any  importance  in  practical  decision  to  the  conjectural 
reason  of  a  Mitzvah,  because  it  is  only  conjecture. 

See  also  p"On  to  the  Torah  U"S  U"',  D'tTHp. 


1 86  IvKTTKRS  OF  BKN   UZIEI.. 

tion  had  robbed  Israel  of  every  broad  and 
natural  view  of  the  world  and  of  life,  and  the 
Talmud  had  yielded  about  all  the  prac5lical 
results  for  life  of  which  it  was  capable,  every 
mind  that  felt  the  desire  of  independent  ac- 
tivity was  obliged  to  forsake  the  paths  of 
study  and  research  in  general  open  to  the 
human  intellecft,  and  to  take  its  recourse  to 
dialecflic  subtleties  and  hair-splittings.  Only 
a  very  few  during  this  entire  period  stood 
with  their  intellecftual  efforts  entirely  within 
Judaism,  and  built  it  up  out  of  its  own 
inner  concepts.  Most  distinguished  among 
them  are  the  author  of  the  "Cuzari,"  and 
the  son  of  Nachman.  This  condition  of  un- 
comprehended  Judaism  became  particularly 
prevalent  in  Germany,  where  ages  of  persecu- 
tion and  oppression  suppressed  every  freer 
upward  movement  of  the  mind.  The  general 
fundamental  principle,  God  the  All-One  and 
the  Torah  His  will,  and  the  fulfillment  of  the 
lyaw  in  the  fear  of  God  and  with  love  for,  and 
faith  in  Him,  retained,  however,  everywhere 
its  living  force;  and  life,  with  all  its  posses- 


EIGHTEENTH    I^ETTER.  1 87 

sions  and  all  its  pleasures,  was  offered  with 
magnificent  devotion  as  a  willing  sacrifice  to 
it.  A  form  of  learning  came  into  existence, 
concerning  which,  as  a  layman,  I  do  not  ven- 
ture to  express  a  judgment,  but  which,  if  I 
comprehend  aright  the  little  that  I  know,  is 
an  invaluable  repository  of  the  spirit  of  Bible 
and  Talmud,  but  which  has  been,  unfortu- 
nately, misunderstood;  and  what  should  have 
been  eternal,  progressive  development,  was 
considered  a  stationary  mechanism,  and  the 
inner  significance  and  concept  thereof  as  extra- 
mundane  dream-worlds.  This  learning  came 
into  existence,  and  the  mind  turned  either  to 
the  external  ingenious  development  of  the 
Talmud,  or  to  this  learning,  which  appealed 
to  the  emotions  as  well.  Pracftical  Judaism, 
which,  comprehended  in  its  purity,  would  per- 
haps have  been  impregnated  with  the  spiritual 
became  in  it,  through  misconception,  a  mag- 
ical mechanism,  a  means  of  influencing  or 
resisting  theosophic  worlds  and  anti-worlds. 

Little  by  little  there  came  into  the  hands  of 
the  people  a  part  of  a  work,  originally  intended 


1 88  I^KTTKRS  OF  BEN  UZIEL. 

only  as  a  compendium  for  the  learned  and 
containing  the  last  results  of  Talmudic  legal 
science,  codified  for  ceremonial  pradlice.  It 
was  essentially  nothing  but  a  differently  ar- 
ranged edition  of  the  systematic  work  of 
Maimonides,  by  which  this  latter  had  become 
the  great  preserver  of  pracftical  Judaism  in  the 
times  of  the  greatest  Galuth-oppression.  Un- 
fortunately, however,  it  was  almost  exclusively 
one  part  of  this  work  which  came  into  the 
hands  of  people,  containing  only  the  divisions 
Kdoth  and  Abodah,  referring  to  worship  and 
holy  days;  the  other  parts,  which  treat  of  the 
other  duties,  w^ere  left  for  the  learned,  and  did 
not  become  the  possession  of  the  people. 
Gradually  the  unfortunate  opinion  developed 
that  Judaism  meant  nothing  but  praying  and 
keeping  holy  days;  its  significance  for  life  in 
general  remained  unrecognized. 

Considering  all  these  influences  together, 
you  will  be  able  to  comprehend  the  appearance 
which  Judaism  presented,  say,  eighty  3- ears 
ago.  The  subsequent  events  will  also  be 
intelligible  to  you.     When  the  external  yoke 


EIGHTEENTH   LETTER.  1 89 

began  to  grow  lighter,  and  the  spirit  felt  itself 
freer,  then  arose  a  brilliant,  respedl-inspiring 
personality,  Mendelssohn,  which  by  its  com- 
manding influence  has  led  the  later  develop- 
ment up  to  this  day.  This  commanding  indi- 
vidual, who  had  not  drawn  his  mental  develop- 
ment from  Judaism,  who  was  great  chiefly  in 
philosophical  disciplines,  in  metaphysics,  and 
aesthetics,  who  treated  the  Bible  only  philo- 
logically  and  aesthetically,  aud  did  not  build 
up  Judaism  as  a  science  from  itself,  but  merely 
defended  it  against  political  stupidity  and 
pietistic  Christian  audacity,  and  who  was  per- 
sonally an  observant  Jew,  accomplished  this 
much,  that  he  showed  the  world  and  his  breth- 
ren that  it  was  possible  to  be  a  stricflly  religious 
Jew  and  yet  to  shine  distinguished  as  the 
German  Plato.' 


»  Do  not  misunderstand  me.  I  speak  here  only  of  the  total 
impression  of  his  work  for  Judaism.  His  "Jerusalem,"  which 
defends,  on  Jewish  grounds,  liberty  of  thought  and  faith,  em- 
phasizes also,  in  contradistindlion  to  the  Moreh,  the  pradtical 
essence  of  Judaism,  and  gives  utterance  to  an  opinion  concern- 
ing the  Edoth,  which,  had  it  been  carried  out  and  intelledlually 
comprehended  by  his  successors,  mighty  have  revolutionized 
the  subsequent  period.     But  neither  the  one  thing  nor  the  other 


190  LETTERS   OF   BEN   UZIEt. 

This  ' '  and  yet ' '  was  decisive.  His  follow- 
ers contented  themselves  with  developing  Bible 
study  in  the  philologic-sesthetic  sense,  with 
studying  the  Moreh,  and  with  pursuing  and 
spreading  humanistic  letters  ;  but  Judaism, 
Bible  and  Talmud  as  Jewish  science,  were  ne- 
gle(5led.  Even  the  most  zealous  study  of  the 
Bible  was  of  no  avail  for  the  comprehension 
of  Judaism,  because  it  was  not  treated  as  the 
authoritative  source  of  dodlrine  and  instruc- 
tion, but  only  as  a  beautiful  poetic  storehouse 
from  which  to  draw  rich  supplies  for  the  fancy 
and  the  imagination.  The  Talmud  thus  ne- 
glecfted,  practical  Judaism  thus  completely  un- 
comprehended,  it  w^as  but  natural  that  the  for- 
mer S3nnbolizing  and  abstract  interpretation  of 
Judaism,  which  had  for  a  time  been  inter- 
rupted, again  became  prevalent,  and  was 
carried   to   an    extreme   which  threatened    to 


took  place.  The  science  of  Judaism  was  not  further  developed 
by  him,  and  his  successors,  lacking  the  religious  sentiment  of 
the  Master,  did  not  rest  content  under  the  idea  of  the  eternally 
binding  power  of  Divine  revelation,  and  could  do  nothing  bet- 
ter for  the  intelledlual  comprehension  of  the  r,aw,  than  to  sur- 
render completely  to  the  Maimonidean  theories. 


KIGHTEKNTH    LETTER.  I9I 

destroy  all  Judaism.  If  that  view  of  life  be 
true,  which  places  the  highest  mission  of  man 
ia  the  recognition  of  truth  ;  and  who  could 
venture  to  doubt  it,  seeing  that  Maimonides 
has  declared  so;  above  all,  if  those  views  con- 
cerning the  requirements  of  the  Torah  be  true; 
and  who  could  dare  to  think  otherwise,  since 
Maimonides,  the  great  authority  on  Talmud, 
and  himself  an  observant  Jew,  had  propounded 
them;  then,  indeed,  the  many-foliod  Talmud 
is  nothing  but  a  wearisome  mass  of  hair-split- 
ting subtleties,  useful  only  for  the  accumula- 
tion of  dust  and  moths;  then,  indeed,  is  prac- 
tical Judaism  nothing  but  unreasoning  weari- 
ness of  the  flesh:  who  could  resist  this  conclu- 


sion 


If,  for  instance,  the  sole  purpose  of  the 
prohibition  of  labor  on  the  Sabbath  was  to 
enable  men  to  rest  and  recover  from  the  toils 
of  the  week,  if  the  Sabbath  means  only  the 
cessation  of  corporeal  adlivity  in  order  that 
the  mind  may  be  adlive;  and  who  could  doubt 
it,  since  both  Moses  interpret  it  thus,  and  the 
Christian  Sunday  agrees  with  their  conception, 


192  I.KTTKRS  OP  BEN  UZIKI.. 

who  must  not  consider  it  mere  pettiness  and 
pedantic  absurdity  to  fill  an  entire  folio  with 
the  investigation  of  the  question,  what  partic- 
ular actions  are  forbidden,  and  what  permitted 
on  the  Sabbath  day?  How  singular,  to  de- 
clare the  writing  of  two  letters,  perhaps  an 
intellecftual  occupation,  a  deadly  sin,  while 
judging  leniently  many  adls  involving  great 
physical  exertion,  and  freeing  from  penalty  all 
purposeless  destruction!  Why,  it  even  forbids 
the  hen  to  lay  eggs!  Or,  to  go  over  to  another 
domain,  if  sacrifice  means  only  to  give  of  one's 
possessions  in  grateful  recognition  that  they 
come  from  God,  or  if,  in  its  special  Biblical 
form,  it  was  mainly  designed  as  a  protest 
against  the  polytheistic  sacrificial  usages  then 
prevailing;  how  absurd  it  is,  to  fill  three  or 
four  folios  with  investigations  concerning  the 
manner  of  offering  sacrifice,  the  part  which 
might  be  used,  the  persons  who  might  officiate, 
and  the  permissible  times  !  Do  you^not  see, 
that  all  this  is  only  mind-destroying  priest- 
craft ?  Therefore  ;  therefore — many  conclu- 
sions  could  be  and  were  drawn,   but  before 


KIGHTKKNTH  LKTTKR.  193 

drawing  them,  people  should  have  asked  them- 
selves, "  Is  Moses  the  son  of  Maimon,  or  Moses 
the  son  of  Mendel,  really  identical  with  Moses 
the  son  of  Amram  ?  "  Is  there  not  contained 
in  this  dissonance  between  the  theory  of  the 
Mitzvah  and  its  reality  a  proof  that  the 
explanation  is  not  right,  that  it  is  not  based 
upon  the  complete  conception  of  the  Mitzvah, 
but  is — dreamed  into  it  from  without  ? 

Does  not  the  Moreh  itself  say  that  in  form- 
ing the  concept  of  the  Mitzvoth  it  uses  the 
written  I^aw  only  as  the  basis,  a  standpoint 
which  Maimonides  himself  would  have  de- 
clared incorredl  for  the  pracftical  fulfillment, 
and  which  cannot,  therefore,  be  considered 
aught  else  than  irrational  ? 

Does  he  not  himself  say  that  in  considering 
the  significance  of  the  Mitzvoth  he  has  over- 
looked those  details  which,  in  their  totality, 
give  the  complete  idea  of  the  Mitzvoth,  and 
which  form  the  main  subjedls  of  discussion  in 
the  Oral  I^aw?  (Moreh  Nebuchim,  Chapters 
XXVI  and  Xlyl.)  There  must  be  sense  in  all 
the  commandments,  in  particular  as  regards 


194  I.KTTKRS  OF  BBN  UZIKlv. 

those  which  announce  themselves  as  instru(5l- 
ive,  which  call  themselves  Testimony,  Memo- 
rial, Symbol.  It  must  be  possible  to  find  the 
indwelling  spirit  of  these;  how  would  it  be  to 
try  to  do  so,  to  make  once  the  experiment? 
This  attempt  has  hitherto  never  been  made. 
Many  did  not  wish  to  make  the  attempt  nor  to 
attain  to  the  result.  A  spirit  had  come  from  the 
West,  which  mocked  at  everything  holy,  and 
knew  no  greater  pleasure  than  to  make  them 
ridiculous,  and  together  with  it  there  entered 
a  longing  for  sensual  enjoyments,  which 
eagerly  embraced  the  opportunity  to  rid  itself 
so  easily  of  burdensome  restri(5lions.  These 
motives  combined  to  induce  people  to  tear 
down  the  barriers  eredled  by  the  Law,  until 
human  condudl  became  one  dead,  dull  level.' 


1  A  word  here  concerning  the  true  method  of  Torah-investiga- 
tion.  Two  revelations  are  open  before  us,  nature — and  Torah. 
In  nature  all  phenomena  stand  before  us  as  indisputable  fadls, 
and  we  can  only  endeavor  a  posteri07-i  to  ascertain  the  law  of 
each  and  the  connedtion  of  all.  Abstradt  demonstration  of  the 
truth  or,  rather,  the  probability  of  theoretic  explanations  of 
the  fadls  of  nature,  is  an  unnatural  proceeding.  The  right 
method  is  to  verify  our  assumptions  by  the  known  fadls,  and 
the  highest  attainable  degree  of  certainty  is  to  say,  "The  fadls 


KlGHTKi^NTH   I.ETTKR.  1 95 

And  what  is  our  present  state?  The  first 
delights  of  the  worldly  spirit  have  passed 
away,    other    generations   have   succeeded   to 

agree  with  our  assumption  "—that  is,  all  observed  phenomena 
can  be  explained  according  to  our  theory.  A  singly  contradic- 
tory phenomenon  will  make  our  theory  untenable.  We  must, 
therefore,  acquire  all  possible  knowledge  concerning  the  objedl 
of  our  investigation,  and  know  it,  if  possible,  in  its  totality.  If, 
however,  all  efforts  should  fail  in  disclosing  the  inner  law  and 
connedtion  of  phenomena  revealed  to  us  as  fadts  in  nature,  the 
facts  remain,  nevertheless,  undeniable,  and  cannot  be  reasoned 
away.  The  same  principles  must  be  applied  to  the  investiga- 
tion of  the  Torah.  In  the  Torah,  as  in  nature,  God  is  the  ulti- 
mate cause;  in  the  Torah,  as  in  nature,  no  fact  may  be  denied, 
even  though  the  reason  and  the  connection  may  not  be  compre- 
hended; as  in  nature,  so  in  the  Torah,  the  traces  of  Divine  wis- 
dom must  ever  be  sought  for.  Its  ordinances  must  be  accepted 
in  their  entirety  as  undeniable  phenomena,  and  must  be  studied 
in  accordance  to  their  connection  with  each  other,  and  the  sub- 
ject to  which  they  relate.  Our  conjectures  must  be  tested  by 
their  precepts,  and  our  highest  certainty  here  also  can  only  be 
that  everything  stands  in  harmony  with  our  theory.  But  as  in 
nature,  the  phenomena  are  recognized  as  facts,  though  their 
cause  and  relation  to  each  other  may  not  be  understood,  and  are 
independent  of  our  investigation,  but  rather  the  contrary  is  the 
case;  in  the  same  way  the  ordinances  of  the  Torah  must  be  law 
for  us,  even  if  we  do  not  comprehend  the  reason  and  the  pur- 
pose of  a  single  one.  Our  fulfillment  of  the  commandments 
must  not  depend  upon  our  investigations.  Only  the  command- 
ments belonging  to  the  category  Edoth,  which  are  designed  to 
impress  the  intellectual  and  emotion&l  life,  are  incomplete 
without  such  researclj. 


196  I.KTTKRS  OP   BEN  UZIKI^. 

those  who  witnessed  the  first  change  in  Jewish 
sentiment,  and  to-day  two  diametrically  oppo- 
site parties  confront  each  other.  The  one 
party  has  inherited  uncomprehended  Judaism 
as  a  mechanical  habit,  mf2i7f2  D^t^^^N  ni^O, 
without  its  spirit;  they  bear  it  in  their  hands 
as  a  sacred  relic,  a  revered  mummy,  and  fear 
to  rouse  its  spirit.  The  others  are  partly  filled 
with  noble  enthusiasm  for  the  welfare  of  the 
Jews,  but  look  upon  Judaism  as  a  lifeless 
framework,  as  something  which  should  be  laid 
in  the  grave  of  a  long  since  dead  and  buried 
past.  They  seek  its  spirit  and  find  it  not,  and 
are  in  danger,  with  all  their  efibrts  to  help  the 
Jew,  of  severing  the  last  life-nerve  of  Judaism 
— ignorantly.  And  to-day,  when,  despite  a 
thousand  shades  and  variations  of  difference, 
these  two  opposing  elements  agree  in  the  one 
great  circumstance,  that  they  are  both  wrong 
— what  shall  be  done?  What  is  the  way  to 
salvation  ?  Does  it  suffice  for  the  salvation  of 
Judaism  to  establish  our  schools  upon  such  a 
two-fold  basis,  and  to  reform  our  form  of  wor- 
ship?   The  spirit,  the  inner  harmonious  life- 


EIGHTKKNTH  LKTTKR.  197 

principle,  is  lacking,  and  that  you  cannot  sup- 
ply through  polishing  the  outside  frame. 

There  is  one  way  to  salvation; — where  the 
sin  was  committed  the  atonement  must  begin, 
— and  this  one  way  is,  to  forget  the  inherited 
prejudices  and  opinions  concerning  Judaism; 
to  go  back  to  the  sources  of  Judaism,  to  Bible, 
Talmud,  and  Midrash;  to  read,  study,  and 
comprehend  them  in  order  to  live  them;  to 
draw  from  them  the  teachings  of  Judaism  con- 
cerning God,  the  world,  mankind,  and  Israel, 
according  to  history  and  precept;  to  know 
Judaism  out  of  itself;  to  learn  from  its  own 
utterances  its  science  of  life.  With  the  Bible 
the  beginning  should  be  made,  its  language 
should  first  be  comprehended,  and  then  out 
of  the  spirit  of  the  speech  the  spirit  of  the 
speakers  should  be  inferred.  The  Bible  should 
not  be  studied  as  an  interesting  objecft  of  philo- 
logical or  antiquarian  research,  not  as  basis  for 
theories  of  taste  or  for  amusement;  it  should 
be  studied  as  the  foundation  of  a  new  science; 
with  Davidic  vSentiment  nature  should  be  con- 
templated; with  the  ear  of  an  Isaiah  history 


1 98  LETTERS   OF   BEN  UZIEL. 

should  be  listened  to,  and  then,  with  eye  thus 
aroused,  with  ear  thus  opened,  the  docftrine  of 
God,  world,  man,  Israel,  and  Torah  should  be 
drawn  from  the  Bible,  and  should  become  an 
idea,  or  system  of  ideas,  fully  comprehended. 
In  this  spirit  Talmud  should  be  studied,  in  the 
Halachah  only  further  elucidation  and  amplifi- 
cation of  ideas  already  known  from  the  Bible 
should  be  sought  for;  in  the  Aggadah  only 
figuratively  disguised  manifestation  of  the 
same  spirit.  This  path  you  should  pursue, 
unconcerned  as  to  the  opinion  which  the  one 
or  the  other  school  of  misled  ones  may  hold  in 
reference  to  your  methods  of  study;  uncon- 
cerned that  your  simplicity  of  interpretation 
wall  not  permit  you  to  shine  among  the  heroes 
of  hair-splitting,  life-ignoring  disputations; 
unconcerned  if  3^ou  do  not  shine  in  the  special 
disciplines  which  you  use  only  as  auxiliary 
sciences  for  your  general  objecft;  unconcerned 
if  you  are  no  longer  qualified  for  pretentious 
appearance.  All  this  should  concern  you  lit- 
tle, for  you  are  learning  what  is  better,  to 
know  the  light,   the  truth,  the  warmth,  and 


EIGHTEENTH  LETTER.  1 99 

the  sublimity  of  life,  and  when  you  have 
attained  to  this  you  will  comprehend  Israel's 
history  and  Israel's  Law,  and  that  life,  in  its 
true  sense,  is  the  refiecftion  of  that  Law,  per- 
meated with  that  spirit.  One  spirit  lives  in 
all,  from  the  construdlion  of  the  Holy  Tongue 
to  the  constru(5lion  of  the  universe  and  the 
plan  of  life,  one  spirit,  the  spirit  of  the  All- 
One  !  That  would  be  a  task  for  the  disciples 
of  science  !  But  the  results  of  that  science 
must  be  carried  over  into  life,  transplanted  by 
schools.  Schools  for  Jews  !  The  young  sap- 
lings of  your  people  should  be  reared  as  Jews, 
trained  to  become  sons  and  daughters  of  Juda- 
ism, as  you  have  recognized  and  comprehended 
and  learned  to  respecft  and  love  it  as  the  law  of 
your  life.  The  language  of  the  Bible  and  the 
language  of  the  land  should  be  theirs;  in  both 
they  should  be  taught  to  think;  their  heart 
should  be  taught  to  feel,  their  mind  to  think; 
the  Scriptures  should  be  their  book  of  law  for 
life,  and  they  should  be  able  to  comprehend 
life  through  their  word. 

Their  eye  should  be  open  to  recognize  the 


200  I^KTTKRS  OF  BKN  UZIKlv. 

world  around  them  as  God's  world  and  them- 
selves in  God's  world  as  His  servants;  their 
ear  should  be  open  to  perceive  in  history  the 
narrative  of  the  education  of  all  men  to  this 
service.  The  wise  precepts  of  Torah  and 
Talmud  should  be  made  clear  to  them  as 
designed  to  spiritualize  their  lives  for  such 
sublime  service  of  God,  and  they  should  be 
taught  to  comprehend,  respedl,  and  love  them, 
in  order  that  they  might  rejoice  in  the  name 
' '  Jew  ' '  despite  all  which  that  name  implies 
of  scorn  and  privation.  Together  with  this 
instruc5lion  they  should  be  fitted  for  bread- 
winning,  but  they  should  be  taught  that  bread- 
winning  is  only  a  means,  not  the  purpose  of 
life,  and  that  the  value  of  life  is  not  to  be 
judged  according  to  rank,  wealth,  or  splendor, 
but  according  to  the  amount  of  good  and  of 
service  to  God  with  which  it  is  filled.  They 
should  be  taught  not  to  subordinate  the 
demands  of  their  spiritual  mission  to  those  of 
sensuality  and  comfort,  but  the  reverse,  and 
while  this  training  was  going  on,  and  until 
Israel's  houses  were  built  up  of  such  sons  and 


EIGHTKENTH   I^KTTER.  20I 

daughters,  the  parents  should  be  implored  and 
entreated  not  to  destroy  the  work  of  the  school, 
not  to  crush  or  choke  with  icy  and  unsympa- 
thetic mood  the  tender  shoots  of  Jewish  senti- 
ment in  the  breasts  of  their  children.  The 
latent  germs  of  a  nobler  disposition  in  the 
breast  of  parents  should  also  be  stirred,  and  if 
this  be  impossible,  at  least  they  should  be 
forced  to  respedl  the  sentiments  they  could 
not  comprehend  nor  share.  If  these  ends 
should  be  earnestly  striven  for,  it  would  be 
different  in  Israel. 

It  will  be  different  in  Israel;  our  time  leads 
necessarily  to  such  a  change.  Do  not  think 
our  time  so  dark  and  hopeless,  friend;  it  is  only 
nervous  and  uncertain,  as  a  woman  in  child- 
birth. But  better  the  anxiety  which  prevails 
in  the  house  of  a  woman  about  to  give  birth, 
than  the  freedom  from  anxiety,  but  also  from 
joy  and  hope,  in  the  house  of  the  barren  one. 
This  time  of  labor  may  outlast  our  lives  and 
the  lives  of  our  children  and  grandchildren, 
but  our  later  posterity  will  rejoice  in  the  child 
that  has  struggled  out  into  light  and  life,  and 


202  LKTTKRS   OF   BE^N   UZIKI.. 

its  name  will  be  ' '  self-comprehending  Juda- 
ism." 

The  age  offers  one  pledge  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  this  result ;  it  is  the  effort  to 
think,  to  comprehend  and  to  grasp  with  the 
mind  that  which  should  be  respedled  and 
revered.  Truly,  when  the  mind  will  have 
realized  the  futility  of  this  baseless  and  aim- 
less striving,  of  its  bargaining  with  the  over- 
estimated demands  of  the  fleeting  moment; 
when  it  will  have  clearly  brought  to  its  con- 
sciousness that  the  noble  life  can  only  be 
eredled  upon  ideas  inwardly  recognized  as 
true,  then  will  arise  the  question,  "  What  does 
it  mean  that  I  am  a  Jew  ?  What  is  Judaism  ?  ' ' 
Nor  will  the  answer  to  this  question  be  sought 
at  the  cathedras  or  in  the  writings  of  non- Jew- 
ish scholars,  who  often  see  Judaism  through  a 
distorting  glass  and  who  sometimes  think  it 
necessary  to  destroy  the  teachings  of  Torah 
and  Judaism  in  order  to  establish  their  own 
notions.  Neither  will  it  be  sought  in  the 
writings  of  time-serving  reformers  influenced 
by  external   motives,   nor  in  the  writings  of 


EIGHTEENTH   LETTER.  203 

Jewish  scholars  who  take  their  standpoint  out- 
side of  Judaism.    But  the  seekers  after  knowl- 
edge will  go  back  to  the  ancient  fountains  of 
Judaism,  Bible  and  Talmud,  and  the  one  effort 
will  be  to  obtain  the  concept  of  life  out  of  Juda- 
ism and  to  comprehend  Judaism  as  the  law  of 
life,  and  this  effort  will  lead  to  the  transposing 
of  that  which  holds  the  theory  of  truth  and  life 
into  adlual,  pradlical  truth  and  life,  in  accor- 
dance with  the   old  adage,  now,  alas,  nearly 
forgotten,    Hlt^*;^'?')    ^IDtT'?    id?"?)    "IIO'?'?, 
"to  learn  and  to  teach,  to  keep  and  to  do." 
O,  that  you  all,  who  mean  well  with  Juda- 
ism, which  you  have  inherited  as  a  habit,  and 
which  you  are  thinking  of  handing  down  as  a 
habit,  O,  that  your  eyes  might  be  opened  and 
that  you  might  recognize  that  only  through 
the  spirit  can  you  hand  it  down  ;  O,  that  you 
might  at  least  hand  to  your  sons  and  daughters 
the  Holy  Writings,  the  writings  of  the  Torah, 
the  Prophets,  and  the  Hagiographa,   so  that 
the  spirit  which  throbs  in  them  might  become 
their  light  and  support  in  life  ;  O,  that   you 
noble-minded  ones,  who  think  that  you  labor 


204  I.ETTERS   OF   BEN   UZIEI.. 

for  the  weal  of  Judaism;  O,  that  you  might 
consider  that  when  you  strike  the  chains  from 
hand  and  foot  or  don  fine  clothing  and  adorn 
your  outward  persons,  you  do  not  3^et  help  to 
improve  or  elevate  life.  lyower  again  the 
hand  upraised  to  strike  down  the  battlements  of 
your  faith,  and  consider  whether  you  are  not 
about  to  destroy  an  edifice  which,  even  though 
in  its  covering  of  the  dust  of  centuries,  it  ap- 
pears to  you  worthy  only  of  the  axe's  stroke, 
may  yet  contain  things  holy  and  eternal,  things 
of  life  and  truth;  turn  again  toward  it  your 
averted  gaze  and  examine  what  it  is  from  which 
you  turn  away.  Is  it  the  fault  of  the  objecft 
— should  the  objedl  be  held  blameworthy,  if 
those  who  represent  it,  themselves  covered  with 
the  dust  of  the  battlefield  upon  which  they 
struggle  against  oppression  and  misery,  could 
only  rescue  it  dust-covered  and  made  repulsive  ? 
Should  we,  to  whom  the  mildness  of  the  times 
has  given  the  task  of  rubbing  off  the  dust, 
think  so  little  of  the  troubles  and  battles  of 
those  men  as  not  even  to  deem  it  worth  while 
to  dust  off  the  jewel  for  our  own  benefit,  but, 


EIGHTKENTH   LEJTTER.  205 

regarding  only  the  dust-covered  exterior,  cast 
away  as  worthless  the  precious  possession  Tor 
which  our  ancestors  sacrificed  life,  and 
property,  and  liberty,  and  all  the  joys  of  life? 
Should — but  I  forget,  my  dear  Benjamin,  that 
only  heaven  hears  these  wishes,  that  only  this 
paper  sees  them,  and  that  only  to  you  will 
they  be  shown ;  I  forget  that  I  am  writing  only 
to  you.  lyight  and  truth  and  life  will  emerge 
from  this  time  of  trial;  be  sure  of  that,  friend, 
and  then  you  will  regard  differently  that  which 
I  was  accustomed  to  lament  with  j^ou,  the 
apparently  chaotic  condition  of  the  spiritual 
affairs  of  our  people;  no  government,  no 
authority,  all  efforts  solely  individual,  and, 
through  the  lust  for  reform,  the  religious 
service,  about  which  the  whole  movement 
turns,  has  become  so  variegated  that  a  Jew, 
travelling  through  Germany,  might  almost 
find  it  different  in  every  congregation.  Do 
you  not  see  that  this  also  may  have  its  good  ? 
I  am  convinced  that  none  of  those  of  us  now 
living  comprehend  Judaism  in  its  true  purity 
and   truth.      Consider  also  the  divergency  of 


2o6  LETTERS   OF   BKN  UZIKI.. 

Opinions,  quite  natural  inasmuch  as  almost 
every  Rabbi  strikes  out  his  own  path  and  is 
led  by  no  schools.  Consider  furthermore  that 
we  are  only  in  the  time  of  labor;  it  would  be 
unfortunate  if  an  authority  tried  to  establish 
something — it  would  only  make  our  sorrows 
eternal!  It  would  be  impossible  to  selecft 
proper  men.  If  one-sided,  they  would  per- 
petuate extravagances;  if  composed  of  minglea 
elements  representing  various  ideas,  their  crea- 
tion would  be  a  half-thing,  a  torso,  and  would 
only  serve  to  dam  the  stream  of  development, 
which  can  only  bring  pure  and  living  w^ater 
when  permitted  to  flow  to  its  uttermost  end. 
Time,  if  left  unhindered,  will  wash  away  what 
it  itself  has  brought  into  existence,  and  room 
will  always  remain  for  the  higher  edifice  which 
yet  awaits  us.  I  think  that  if,  in  the  period 
after  Maimonides,  anxiety  for  the  maintenance 
of  Judaism  in  external  pra6lice  had  not  made 
it  necessary  to  suppress  antagonistic  efforts, 
centuries  ago  the  improper  tendencies  of  the 
Jewdsh  spirit  would,  through  the  very  com- 
pleteness  of   their  fulfillment,    have   brought 


KIGHTEJBNTH   I^ETTKR.  207 

about  sober  refledlion  upon  the  nature  and 
purposes  of  our  faith,  and  we  would  now  be 
whither  we  can  only  expedl  to  come  in  centu- 
ries. Under  present  conditions  I  rejoice  that 
the  scales  hang  free,  held  by  God  alone,  and 
that  only  intellec5lual  efforts  mutually  balance 
each  other,  but  that  no  temporal  power  can 
interpose  the  sword  to  check  the  freedom  of 
the  swinging.  If  it  should  be  stopped,  our 
great  grandchildren  would  be  no  better  off 
than  w^e.  Should  we  fear  to  go  through  the 
period  of  anxiety  for  them  ? 

Let  the  scales  swing!  The  freer  they  hang, 
and  the  more  violently  now  they  swing  up  and 
down,  the  truer  and  purer  will  be  the  estimate 
of  the  right  principle  of  faith  and  life  which 
they  will  finally  fix.  And  when  the  scales 
have  ceased  to  swing,  and  when  all  luminous 
will  stand  in  Israel,  the  Spirit  of  Understand- 
ing, tiyZ  tlT),  the  spirit  which  understands 
itself,  its  history,  and  its  law,  when  its  throb- 
bing impulse  of  life  will  have  pervaded  all  its 
members;  when  the  branch  gone  forth  from 
Israel  shall  have  performed  its   mission   and 


208  I.KTTKRS  OF   BKN  UZIEL. 

fought  to  victory  a  battle  of  another  kind  in 
the  midst  of  our  non- Jewish  brethren;  when 
the  free  gaze  uplifted  to  the  All- One,  and  the 
consciousness  of  inner  moral  power  shall  have 
conquered  whatever  dims  the  eye  and  corrupts 
noble  vigor  .  .  .  then  will  the  book  of  our 
history  have  been  written,  and  its  final  teach- 
ings will  have  penetrated  all  spirits.  I^et  us 
comprehend  our  tim^e,  dear  Benjamin,  and  let 
every  one,  according  to  the  measure  of  intel- 
ledlual  and  spiritual  power  vouchsafed  him, 
strive  to  further  the  progress  to  the  goal,  each 
in  the  greater  or  smaller  circle  in  which  he 
lives.  Thousands  may  forsake  the  cause  of 
life  and  light,  thousands  may  tear  themselves 
away  from  the  lot  and  the  name  of  Israel, 
whose  mode  of  life  they  have  long  since 
reje(5led — the  cause  of  truth  counts  not  the 
number  of  its  adherents.  If  only  one  remains 
— one  Jew  with  the  book  of  the  law  in  his 
hand,  with  Israel's  law  in  his  heart,  Israel's 
light  in  his  spirit — that  one  suffices;  Israel's 
cause  is  not  lost.  When  Israel  had  grown 
tinfit  for  its  mission,  the  All-One  desired  to 


KIGHTKKNTH   LETTER.  2og 

permit  the  law  and  the  mission  of  Israel  to  be 
borne  by  the  one  Moses,  and  the  prophet  tells 
us  timid  ones  the  same  truth : 
' '  Gaze   upon   the   rock  from  which  we  were 

hewn, 
Upon  the  fountain-hollowing  mallet  with  which 

ye  were  dug ! 
Gaze  upon  Abraham,  your  father. 
Upon  Sarah,  destined  to  bear  ye. 
One  only  was  he  when  I  called  him; 
I  blessed  him  and  made  him  many." 

Farewell,  dear  Benjamin,  train  yourself  to 
be  such  a  one;  farewell. 


NINETEENTH  LETTER. 

You  have  prevailed,  my  Benjamin!  On  the 
day  when  you  consecrate  unto  j^ourself  the 
wife,  with  whose  aid  you  are  to  ere6l  a  house 
in  Israel,  I  shall  offer  you  the  only  present 
you  seek;  I  shall  grant  the  request  which  you 
have  so  often  uttered  to  me.  I  shall,  if  God 
gives  me  understanding  and  health,  lay  upon 
my  people's  altar  the  only  offering  which,  in 
my  weakness,  I  am  able  to  place  thereon.  I 
do  not  entertain  in  connedlion  with  it  the  san- 
guine hopes  with  which  you  have  welcomed 
this  resolve.  I  have  revealed  to  you  in  writ- 
ing and  orally  what  I  have  cherished  for  a 
long  time  as  my  dearest  treasure,  and  you 
have  accepted  it  with  warm  appreciation  as 
truth  ;  but  I  do  not  imagine  on  that  account 
that  it  will  be  acknowledged  by  all  as  truth, 
or  that  I  may  deem  it  with  certainty  the  pure 
gold  of  truth.  I  know  too  well  both  my  own 
limitations  and  the  chara(5ler  of  the  age  to  be 

210 


NINETKKNTH   IvETTER.  211 

led  astray  by  such  roseate  hopes.  But  I  con- 
sider it  the  duty  of  every  one,  in  a  time  of  such 
solemn  import,  and  in  behalf  of  a  cause  which 
is  to  us  the  holiest  and  most  sacred,  to  make 
known  his  opinions  openly  and  honestly.  And 
if  I  should  only  succeed  in  demonstrating  that 
the  matter  has  not  been  thoroughly  inves- 
tigated in  all  its  aspe(5ls,  that  there  is,  perhaps, 
a  way  by  means  of  which  one  could  reach 
entirely  different  results  than  those  hitherto 
attained,  a  view  in  the  light  of  which  every- 
thing would  present  an  appearance  quite  differ- 
ent from  that  hitherto  customary  and  usual; 
yes,  if  I  should  only  succeed  in  staying  one 
hand  that  had  been  too  swiftly  raised  in  order 
to  tear  down,  and  could  induce  its  owner  in- 
stead calmly  to  examine;  indeed,  if  I  could 
come  no  nearer  to  the  goal  that  I  have  often 
picflured  to  you  in  letters  than  to  induce 
another  to  step  upon  the  road  which  I  have 
prepared,  another,  more  talented,  more  richly 
equipped  with  intelledlual  light  and  strength 
than  I,  and  he  should  demonstrate  so  clearly 
the  truth  and  dignity,  the  life  and  the  light 


212  IvKTTKRS   OF   BKN   UZIKIy. 

contained  in  the  edifice  of  Judaism  that  my 
feeble  attempts  would  arouse  but  a  pitjdng 
smile  and  be  forgotten;  friend,  my  reward 
would  even  then  be  greater  than  I  have  dared 
to  hope.  Nor  do  you  err  when  j^ou  think  that 
modest  difiidence  has  restrained  me  so  long 
from  undertaking  a  task  which  must  long 
since  have  spoken  within  me. 

That  I  have  long  since  devoted  my  thoughts 
to  this  task,  the  accompanying  roll  of  essays 
concerning  Israel  and  Israel's  duties — or  rather 
concerning  the  duties  alone,  for  my  thoughts 
on  Israel  are  still  only  a  project  of  my  mind — 
must  convince  you.  But  I  have  been,  and 
still  am,  diffident,  not  on  account  of  myself, 
but  on  account  of  the  cause  which  I  have 
ventured  to  represent. 

In  an  age  when  the  contrasts  stand  so  sharply 
over  against  each  other,  and  when  truth  is  on 
neither  side,  in  such  an  age  the  man  who  be- 
longs to  no  party,  who  has  only  the  cause  in 
his  heart,  and  serves  it  alone,  cannot,  unless 
he  be  a  Divine  master,  who  comprehends  the 
Divine  truth  in  its  purity,  and  has  the  power 


NINETEENTH    LETTER.  21 3 

to  show  it  SO  brilliant  in  its  Divine  radiance 
that  all  spirits  subdued  acknowledge  its  divin- 
ity and  do  it  homage,  such  a  one  cannot,  I  re- 
peat, expedl  approval  or  agreement  on  any  side. 
This  I  knew  and  know,  and  with  this 
knowledge  within  my  mind  I  first  took  up  the 
pen  to  these  essays.  Fame  or  acknowledg- 
ment of  my  personal  merit  are  not  the  obje(5ls 
which  I  seek,  or  else  they  indeed  would  have 
been  right  whose  judgment  already  sounds  in 
my  ears  as  that  of  the  multitude:  "  He  under- 
stands but  ill  the  world  and  his  time,  and  what 
it  demands. ' '  No  such  motive  has  prompted 
me  to  these  efforts,  but  only  the  inner  voice 
which,  though  I  listen  and  examine  my  inmost 
thoughts  a  thousand  times,  speaks  ever  to  me 
the  same  words,  saying:  "  There  is  some  truth 
in  your  views,  some  of  that  truth  which,  you 
think,  must  ultimately  struggle  forth  into  the 
light  of  vi(5lory  ;  the  way  upon  which  you 
have  begun  to  walk  is  perhaps  only  a  by-path, 
but  it  leads  in  the  right  direcflion,  and  if  one 
abler  than  you  should  begin  to  pursue  it,  the 
cause  of  truth  would  surely  prevail."     This 


214  I.KTTKRS   OF   BE^N   UZIKI.. 

voice  alone  stirred  tae  on.  Surely,  friend,  a 
grain  of  truth  is  worth  the  sacrifice  of  my 
person,  even  if  I  should  sacrifice  it  a  thousand 
times.  This  care  has  never  made  me  hesitate, 
but  other  cares  have  filled  me  with  anxiety, 
when  I  asked  myself  whether  I  would  not  do 
harm  where  I  thought  to  help.  The  view  of 
the  reconstruction  of  Judaism  as  a  science  I 
have  evolved  almost  alone  out  of  my  inner 
consciousness.  Only  one  dear  friend  assisted 
me  a  little  in  the  smaller,  easier,  and  clearer 
part,  and  only  one  star  guided  me  somewhat 
in  the  beginning.  I  have  worked  myself 
through  to  the  point  where  you  found  me. 
But  may  it  not  be  that  upon  this  way,  where 
at  every  step  thorns  and  refuse  had  to  be 
removed,  and  I,  with  my  limited  powers,  was 
called  upon  alone  to  take  issue  with  the  entire 
past  and  the  entire  present,  may  it  not  well  be, 
I  ask,  that  I  have  entered  into  a  thousand 
devious  paths,  and  accepted  a  thousand  errors 
as  truths  ?  Is  the  edifice,  as  it  stands  within 
me,  and  as  I  would  show  it  to  my  brethren,  is 
it   free   from   defedls?     And    if   the    attempt 


NINKTKKNTH  LETTER.  215 

should  fail,  would  not  those  who  would  like  to 
erase  from  the  book  of  life  the  cause  for  which 
I  live,  would  they  not  make  use  of  my  unsuc- 
cessful attempts  as  a  means  of  strangling  the 
dearly  beloved  cause  ?  How  they  would  gloat 
over  my  failure  and  say,  "See  there,  some 
new  attempts  to  rehabilitate  Judaism — entire 
failures!  "  I  am  not  constituted  for  a  writer; 
all  my  life  I  have  thought  more  than  spoken, 
spoken  more  than  written;  wall  I  be  able  to 
write  for  truth  with  the  clearness  which  con- 
vinces the  mind,  the  power  which  captures 
the  heart?  I  must,  if  I  would  speak  to  the 
children  of  the  time,  address  them  in  German 
(/.  e.  modern)  language  and  German  writing, 
and  as  surely  as  I  know  that  Judaism,  rightly 
comprehended  and  rightly  presented,  unites 
all  creatures  with  a  band  of  love  and  justice, 
so  surely  do  I  also  know  that  evil  disposed 
calumniators  can  and  do  take  isolated  passages, 
torn  out  of  their  connedlion,  interpreted  in 
contradidlion  to  their  true  spirit,  and  without 
consideration  of  the  entire  edifice  of  which 
they  form  but  an  insignificant  part,  and  us^ 


2l6  I^KTTBRS  OF  BEN  UZIEL. 

them  as  pointed  arrows  and  ponderous  cudgels 
with  which  to  smite  and  wound  helpless  vic- 
tims. Will  my  efforts  have  a  better  fate  ?  Will 
not  some  one  whose  sensitive  spirit  has  been 
insulted  and  offended  by  rude  audacity,  be 
able  to  point  to  me  as  the — even  though  inno- 
cent— cause  ?  Many  other  cares  of  a  similar 
kind  oppressed  me. 

"  How  did  you  answer  all  these  questions," 
I  hear  you  ask,  ''  since  after  all  you  did  resolve 
to  undertake  the  work  ?  "  * '  Because, ' '  I 
thought,  ' '  I  have  climbed  alone  to  a  height, 
from  which  a  new  view  displays  itself  to  me. 
On  that  very  account  it  devolves  on  me  to 
summon  companions,  to  descend  and  to  begin 
again  the  journey  with  the  friends  who  will 
join  me.  I  only  wish  to  give  what  I  have 
until  now  been  able  to  gather  together,  not  as 
a  perfec5l  work,  but  truly  *  as  essa3^s.'  "  Can 
it  injure  the  cause  in  the  eyes  of  the  sensible 
if  a  single  immature  youth  has,  perhaps, 
dreamed  dreams  that  are  utterly  baseless  and 
unreal?  Then  there  is  the  question  of  duty. 
I  see  a  child  enveloped  in  flames;  the  by  stand- 


NINKTBKNTH  LBTTE^R.  21 7 

ers  are  timidly  inacflive,  or  seek  only  to  save 
the  building.  I  see  the  child, — I  rush  in; — 
need  I  ask  first  my  neighbor  whether  he,  too, 
sees  the  child;  have  I  the  right  to  consider 
whether,  in  my  hasty  rush,  I  may  not  knock 
some  neighbor  bloody;  may  I  even  ask  whether, 
in  my  haste  to  vSave  the  child,  I  am  not  hinder- 
ing the  task  of  saving  the  building  or  produ- 
cing a  draught,  which  may  start  the  fire  to 
fresh  acftivity?  '  'But  suppose  you  see  the  child 
too  late,  and  before  you  reach  it  the  building 
falls  with  hiss  and  crash  upon  its  poor  head  ? ' ' 

Even  if  it  should  bury  me,  too,  in  its  ruins, 
I  would  but  have  done  my  duty. 

Of  course,  my  dear  Benjamin,  the  natural 
way  would  have  been  to  have  labored  first 
only  for  the  scientific  evolvement,  and  what- 
ever would  have  demonstrated  in  the  battle  of 
minds  its  truth  and  tenability  would  have 
been  afterwards  quietly  transferred  into  the 
pradlice  of  life.  That  would  have  been  the 
quieter,  the  surer,  the  pleasanter  way. 

But  our  time  demands  a  different  course. 
In  Mendelssohn's  days,  when  the  new  move- 


21 8  I^ETTERS   OF   BEN  UZIEI<. 

ment  of  the  spirit  had  begun  but  the  Jewish 
life  was  yet  untouched,  then  it  would  have 
been  possible  to  construdl  the  science  of  Juda- 
ism, and  to  bring  to  the  strong  formal  life  the 
light  and  warmth  of  the  spirit,  and  our  condi- 
tion would  be  different  now.  To-day  it  is  no 
longer  possible.  The  opinions,  not  derived 
from  true  Judaism,  have  become  acftive  and 
vigorous,  and  labor  with  hostile  energy  to 
undermine  that  which  they  pretend  to  repre- 
sent. They  must  be  combatted  diredlly  in  the 
midst  of  life,  so  that  many  who  still  observe 
may  comprehend  what  they  observe;  that 
many  who  reje(5l  ma}^  hesitate  and  examine 
that  which  they  rejecft;  that  many  a  hand, 
now  raised,  perhaps,  in  honest  zeal  to  tear 
down  or  to  build  up  something  new,  be  held 
back,  and  its  owner  be  induced  to  inquire  care- 
fully concerning  that  which  he  had  purposed 
to  tear  down  or  to  build  in  other  form,  and 
with  new  additions.  Later  it  would  devolve 
upon  the  men  of  science  to  establish  in  science, 
and  as  science,  the  principles  which  we  had 
adlivel}'  defended  in  life.     That  is  the  way  in 


NINETKKNTH  LKTTKR.  219 

which  I  intend  to  proceed.  If  Heaven  will 
vouchsafe  me  health  and  understanding,  I 
shall  endeavor  to  declare  in  a  first  part  the 
views  on  Judaism  concerning  God,  the  world, 
man,  Israel,  the  Torah;  in  a  second  part  to 
expound  the  Mitzvoth,  as  far  as  it  is  incumbent 
upon  us,  deprived  of  our  national  soil ,  to  fulfill 
them;  the  passages  of  the  Torah  shall  always 
precede;  then  shall  follow  the  views  concern- 
ing them  with  which  the  study  of  several  years 
have  furnished  me,  and  then,  for  the  purpose 
of  pradlical  fulfillment,  extradls  from  the  four- 
fold code,  the  Shulchan  Aruch,  shall  follow. 
Ever>'thing  shall  be  treated  popularly,  diredlly 
for  life,  and  its  demonstration  in  Jewish  science 
shall  be  left  as  a  later  task,  as  you  now  have 
this  part  in  your  hands.  I  rejoice  that  the 
first  impulse  to  these  essays  was  derived  from 
the  necessity  of  supplying  the  teachers  of  the 
schools  under  my  supervision  with  a  book  in 
which  they  could  read  themselves  into  Jews 
before  they  began  to  rear  young  souls  for  Juda- 
ism; and  in  elaborating  them  for  larger  circles 
of  readers,  I  alwa3^s  thought  of  the  intellec5lual 


220  I,e:TTKRS  op   ben  UZlKly. 

youths  and  maidens  of  my  people  as  their  chief 
readers.  This  second  part  I  intend — God  will- 
ing— to  publish  first.  To  be  sure  you  are  right, 
in  your  description  of  the  plan,  that  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  general  should  precede  that  of  the 
particular,  and  such  is,  indeed,  the  plan  of  my 
work.  Nevertheless  I  shall  publish  the  partic- 
ular first.  I  know  well  that  I  will  thereby  rouse 
up  more  opponents,  for  people  are  readier  to  ac- 
knowledge principles  before  they  have  obtained 
a  full  view  of  the  consequences  to  which  they 
logically  lead.     Still  I  cannot  do  otherwise. 

I  recognize  as  our  nearest  and  most  funda- 
mental evil  the  false  opinions  and  notions 
which  prevail  concerning  the  extent  as  well  as 
the  contents  and  meaning  of  our  Mitzvoth.  In 
these  isolated,  uncomprehended  tasks  and 
duties  Israel's  essence  is  misunderstood,  at- 
tacked, annihilated.  At  this  spot  the  great- 
est stream  flows  away,  and  here  the  first  effort 
should  be  made  to  repair  the  breach.  When 
the  demonstration  has  been  given  as  to  the 
special  contents  of  Judaism,  then  the  gaze  may 
be  lifted  higher  and  the  question  be  answered 


NINKTKENTH   I.KTTER.  221 

as  to  the  position  which  Judaism,  as  a  whole, 
occupies  in  the  series  of  other  phenomena, 
what  its  relation  to  mankind,  what  the  posi- 
tion of  man  in  the  world  as  comprehended 
from  JudaivSm,  what  the  relation  of  the  world 
to  God,  of  God  to  it.  If  the  first  part  ap- 
peared first,  people  would  look  upon  that 
which  I  say  of  Israel  as  a  mere  dream  picflure, 
a  creation  of  the  enthusiastic  fancy,  nowhere 
existing  in  reality.  In  order,  however,  to 
give  my  readers  as  much  knowledge  of  the 
general  as  is  absolutely  necessary  to  the  un- 
derstanding of  the  special,  I  shall  first  sketch 
out  some  general  outlines,  such  as  I  tried  to 
give  you  in  the  beginning  of  our  correspond- 
ence, and  I  have  endeavored  in  the  case  of  each 
particular  Mitzvah  to  lead  the  reader  to  an  un- 
derstanding of  its  significance  as  based  upon 
its  relation  to  Judaism  in  general. 

So  much,  perhaps  more  than  too  much,  for 
this  project  in  which  you  take  such  warm  in- 
terest. May  you,  if  its  results  be  not  alto- 
gether without  blessing,  remember  with  joy 
that  in  a  time  when  your  eye  could  have  been 


222  I^BTTKRS   OF   BEN  UZIBIy. 

turned  with  so  many  sweet  hopes  entirely 
upon  your  own  individual  life,  you  had  so 
much  love  for  the  general  and  universal.  May 
the  day  on  which  you  receive  these  lines  be 
for  you  the  founder  of  a  joyful,  adlive  future. 
May  the  wife  whom  you  to-day  call  ' '  conse- 
crated," be  consecrated  to  you  ever  as  your 
holiest  possession.  May  the  house  which  you 
establish  together  be  pure  and  holy  and  godly, 
as  the  holy  symbol  of  the  ' '  robe ' '  ^  with 
which  you  enwrap  yourselves.  May  the  * '  cup 
of  life"  ^  from  which  you  both  shall  drink, 
hold  ever  so  much  of  the  sweet  that  you  shall 
never  despair,  so  much  of  the  bitter  that  you 
shall  never  grow  over-proud;  and  may  you  ac- 
cept all  abundance  of  blessing  as  means  given 
you  by  the  hand  of  God,  to  live  a  life  of 
righteousness  and  love.  Farewell,  my  Benja- 
min, farewell.  Your  Naphtali. 

THE    END. 

ti?):;  Nnin  '^N^  mty  0*72:^:11  an 

"  It  is  finished  and  done,  praised  be  God,  Creator 
of  the  world." 

1  The  Tallith  ri'SlD.     2  xhe  cup  containing  the  wine  of  blessing 


J>ate  Due 


